Starting Mailx
To start up mailx at the command prompt type in mailx <Enter>. This will bring you to your mbox file which contains all of your mail messages that are stored in the main mail folder. If you have mail that is stored in a different folder which you wish to read, you will have to specify the name of the folder that you are wanting mailx to read from when starting up mailx. This can be done by typing in at the command prompt mailx -f folderName <Enter>. When redirecting the mailx program to read from another file, you need to make sure that you specify the pathway along with the file name.
Reading Messages
After entering into the mailx program, you will be in your mbox folder or the folder that you have specified. You will see a list of the messages contained in that particular folder. You may read any of the messages by simply typing in the corresponding number of the message and hitting the <Enter> key. The list of the messages will be in order that they were recieved. You will not be able to see the last of the messages of your mbox if your folder contains large number of saved messages. The mailx program will bring you directly to the first unread message in your mbox or folder. If you have no new or unread messages then mailx will bring you to the first message that is contained in the folder.
Below is a snapshot of what you would see upon entering the Mailx program.
what you are looking at in the above image from left to right are:
- Status of the mail message (ie has the message been read or is it newly recieved)
- Status: O Means message has been read previously
Status: U Means message has not been read but it is not newly recieved
Status: N Means message is newly recieved
- Corresponding number to mail message
- Whom the message is from
- Date the message was recieved
- Time the message was recieved
- File size
- Subject Line
Sending Messages
Sending message in Mailx is the same as sending messages in mail. At the command prompt type in the command mailx recipient@address <Enter>. After hitting the <Enter> key you will be prompted to enter a subject then you will be asked to enter any cc that you would like to add. After entering in all the header items, you will be brought to a blank line where you will be able to being typing your email message. After you have finished typing in your message, hit the <Enter> key once more to bring you to a blank line then hold the <Control> key while pressing d to send off the message.
If you would like to send out a message with a bcc listing as well, then at the command prompt type in mailx -b bcc@address recipient@address <Enter>. When sending out to mulitply recipients use a comma in between the addresses and enclose the entire bcc list in quotation marks. You may make file which can contain a list of address seperated by spaces instead of commas. This file may be used instead of typing out the list needed each time.
One of the nice option of mailx program is the one that allows you to use an alias instead of your true account address. This may be accomplished by typing in at the command prompt mailx -r alias@address recipient@address. This will send your email out to the recipient but will make the return address show up as your alias. You may choose to use an alternative account as the alias or just a completely made up email account. If the person that you are sending the email to also uses the mailx program then it will show that you used the -r option and show the correct address that you sent the email from.
Attaching files
If you need to send an attachment with the use of the mailx program, you would at the command prompt type in mailx recepient@address < path/fileName <Enter>. There is only one problem with sending attachments with the mailx program that is it does not allow you to write a message along with the attachment. It will although allow you to set a subject line. To accomplish this type in the at the command prompt mailx -s Your Subject recipient@address < path/fileName. This will send out an attachment to the recipient with only a subject line. The attachments that are send out with the Mailx program become the actual message of the email. It is not a "true" attachment. Attachments to an email maybe of only text type only.
Ending Your Session
When you are ready to end your session with Mailx all you have to do is hold down the <Control> key and press d. If you have entered the Mailx program to write an email, when you send the email off it will automatically end your session with the program as well as send off your email.