Elm 1.0 Introduction

elm was developed in 1986 by a programmer named Dave Taylor. The earlier mail programs (mail and mailx) were line - oriented. They wrote lines of data to the bottom of the screen and, as new lines were written, the old ones scrolled up. This was not only slow but also frustrating to the user at a time when the mail programs could have utilized the terminals that were perfectly capable of writing characters anywhere on the screen. elm was developed to resolve these problems.

elm - an electronic mailer

2.0 Features

1. elm is screen oriented and can write data anywhere on the screen.
2. elm is not only powerful but also so easy to understand that even a casual user can pick up the basics without reading any documentation.
   
   

3.0 Starting elm

1. Type elm at the command prompt and press <Return>. A menu screen with different options will be displayed.
2. If you want to send a mail, and if you know the mail address to which the message has to be sent, type elm address, this takes you directly to the message composition screen.
   Ex.: To send a mail to xyz@cse.uta.edu, type elm xyz@cse.uta.edu at the command prompt.
3. If you are typing elm for the first time, the following notice will be displayed to you:
   Notice:
   This version of ELM requires the use of a .elm directory in your home directory to store your elmrc and alias files. Shall I create the directory .elm for you and set it up (y/n/q)? y
   elm creates a .elm directory with appropriate files if you press Y (Yes).

4.0 Main Menu

1. Once you enter elm and press <Return>, elm starts by displaying the main screen.
2. The main screen consists of the following:
   
   On the top of the screen:
   • the name of the file that contains your mailbox,
   • the no. of messages waiting to be read,
   • the version elm you are running
   • An Index which lists the message summary
   
   At the bottom of the screen, elm displays the following help menu:
   
   Note: You can use any of the following commands by pressing the first character;
   
   • d)elete or
   • u)ndelete mail
   • m)ail a message
   • r)eply
   • f)orward mail
   • q)uit
   • To read a message, press <return>.
     
   • j = move down,
   • k = move up,
   • ? = help
     
     

4.1 Index

The status codes are:

1. N indicates that the message is brand New and you have never seen it before
   
2. O indicates that the message is Old and not yet read
   
3. D indicates that the message is marked for Deletion
   
4. blank to the left of the message indicates that the message has been read but not been saved or deleted
   
5. NM indicates that the New message contains a Mime attachment (a file that has been sent along with the message)
   
   4.2 Moving around the Index
   
   
   1. When you start elm, the highlighted message is called the Current Message, and this is the newest unread message in the Index.
      
   2. To move between messages
      
      1. use either the up or down arrow keys or
      2. use the j and k keys to move down and up respectively
      
      
   3. The up and down arrow keys (or the j and k keys) skip messages that are marked for deletion.
      
   4. If you want to move to a message that is marked for deletion use the <shift> j and <shift> k keys.
      
   5. To jump directly to a specific message:
      enter the specific message number and press <Return>
      press the = (equal sign) to go to the first message in the Index and press * (asterik) to go to the last message in the Index
      enter /<pattern> and press <Return> to go to the message that contains the pattern
      
   6. In the Index, elm can display a part of the list of messages. To view the next set of messages press the right arrow key to go down by one page. Press the left arrow key to go up by one page and so on.
   
   
   
   4.3 Viewing a Message
   
   To view a message:
   
   
   1. At the Index screen, use the arrow keys to highlight the message you want to view.
      
   2. Press <Return> or <Space bar> to view the selected message.
      
   3. To see the complete header of the mail, press h after the message is highlighted.
      
   4. To see the next message, press n (next) or to return to the Index page press i.
      
   5. While viewing a particular message, press <Space bar> to view the next page of the message. If you are already at the end of the message, pressing <Space bar> takes you to the next page.
   
   
   4.4 Composing and Sending a New Message
   
   
   1. You can enter the message compose screen in two ways:
      Enter elm username@bit.uta.edu at the command prompt.
      Ex.: To send a mail to packet and frame, at the command prompt enter:
      elm packet@bit.uta.edu frame@bit.uta.edu
      If you are already within elm, press m (mail). elm asks you the
      mail ids of recipients as follows:
      Send the message to:
      Now regardless of how you have entered the compose message screen, the below steps will be the same.
      
   2. Enter the Subject Subject of message:
      If you leave the subject blank and press <Return>, elm will display: No subject - Continue with message? (y/n) n
      Press y to continue.
      
   3. Enter address of the recipients to whom you want to send a copy of the message. Copies to:
      Else just press <Return>.
      
   4. elm opens a file wherein you can enter the body of the message. You can Compose the message and save the message by pressing <Shift> + ZZ.
      
   5. elm asks you And now:
      Along with it a list of options will be displayed at the bottom of the screen:
      
      • e)dit message
        
      • h)eaders
        
      • c)opy
        
      • !)shell
        
      • s)end or
        
      • f)orget
      
      Press e to edit the earlier composed message. Save the changes before quitting as mentioned earlier. Press h to edit the header of the mail. The header field will be displayed as below:
      
      
      
      
      
      T)o:
      
      C)c:
      
      B)cc:
      
      S)ubject:
      
      R)eply-to:
      A)ction: E)xpires:
      P)riority: Precede(n)ce:
      I)n-reply-to:
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      1. Press the letter in front of the parenthesis ) to edit that particular field.
         
      2. Refer to Bcc (Table 1 in the documentHow to use pine?) to know the benefits of using Bcc.
         
      3. Once you have edited the header field, press <Return>. Press s to send the message.
   
   
   4.5 Starting elm to Send a Message
   
   In addition to the method used in sending a message as explained in the previous section, you can also send the mail directly from the command prompt.
   
   1. At the command prompt, enter elm -s 'I am busy' byte@bit.uta.edu
      -s specifies that "I am busy" is the subject/message sent to the recipient byte@bit.uta.edu In case the subject contains any spaces or punctuation characters, it is enclosed in single quotes.
      
   2. Use the following command to send the message in a file called graduation: elm -s 'My graduation day' byte@bit.uta.edu <graduation> the < sign directs (inputs) the contents of the file graduation to the mail being sent.
      
   3. Press <Return> to send the message.
   
   
   4.6 Attaching a File to a Message
   
   Attaching a File to a Message in elm is complicated and not convenient to use. The best idea is to use pine (refer to Table 1 in the document How to use Pine?)
   
   4.7 Replying to a Message
   
   
   1. To reply, press r after highlighting the message at the Index screen.
      
   2. elm will ask you whether you want to copy the original message by displaying:
      Copy message? (y/n) n
      
   3. Press y if you want to and elm will setup the message and start the editor, else press n and elm opens a new file.
      
   4. When you quit the editor, everything works the same as when you compose a new message.
      
   5. In case the message you have selected for replying had been sent to many recipients by the original sender, you can press r to send the message only to the originator of the message and g (group reply) to the entire group.
   
   
   4.8 Forwarding a Message
   
   
   1. Press f to forward a message after highlighting it.
      
   2. elm will ask you whether you want to edit the message before forwarding it by displaying:
      Edit outgoing message? (y/n) y
      
   3. Press y if you want to, or n otherwise.
      
   4. Everything works the same way as explained in sending a new message hereafter.
   
   
   4.9 Saving a Message
   
   
   1. Press s or <uppercase> C to save a message or copy a message after highlighting it.
      
   2. elm asks you the folder you want to save or Copy the message to. Save to folder Copy to folder Save message to: = file name Copy message to: = file name
      
   3. elm saves or copies the message to <file name> in the Mail directory.
      
   4. The difference between s and <upper case> C is that after the s command, elm will automatically mark the message for deletion. With <upper case> C, elm preserves the message.
   
   
   4.10 Deleting a Message
   
   
   1. Press d to delete a message after highlighting it.
      
   2. elm will mark the message for deletion. You will see a D to the left of the line within the Index.
      
   3. While quitting elm, it will perform the actual deletion from your mailbox.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
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