SFSU DoIT | Help Desk | Pine - Unix Based Email

Pine - UNIX based Email

Pine is a popular non-graphical UNIX based email application available on the SFSU login servers. Pine is configured to use the IMAP mail protocol.
Starting Pine

Use ssh or telnet to login into one of the two SFSU login servers apollo or libra.
Note: when connecting to an SFSU login server from an ISP outside of the sfsu.edu the full login server names are required:
apollo.sfsu.edu and libra.sfsu.edu

To run Pine, type pine (or menu) at UNIX system prompt then press the enter/return key.

apollo% pine

Type your password at the ENTER PASSWORD prompt then press the enter/return key.

The main menu displays the single-letter commands you can issue to work with pine and the number of messages stored in your electronic mailbox.

Pine creates a mail folder in the home directory of your UNIX account. If you create folders (mailboxes) with Pine and save messages in the folder(s), the messages will reside in the mail folder of your UNIX account.

Reading Mail
If you type i to access your mail index, a summary of your messages will be displayed on the screen:

The first field shows the status of each message. This field can be blank (for a message that has been read) or have one of the following indicators:

N for a new message.

D for a message marked for deletion.

The second field indicates the message number.
The third column indicates the date the message was sent.
The fourth column indicates the name of the sender.
The number in parentheses is the total number of characters in the message.
The last column shows the subject of the message. It may be blank in some cases.

A maximum of nineteen messages can be displayed on a screen at one time. To move between messages, press the up and down arrow keys to move up and down the message screen, respectively. If you have more messages than the screen can display, press the Space bar or the minus <-> key to see the next or previous screen(s) of messages, respectively.
To read a message, move to the message and press the Return or Enter key. This will display the first screen of your message. If your message has several pages, you can view the next or previous pages of the message by pressing the Space bar or minus <-> key, respectively. Pressing n or p lets you view the next or previous message. Pressing i returns you to the mail index and m returns you to the main menu.

Sending Mail
To send mail to another person, you must know the recipient's email address. To send mail, press c at the main menu or while you are viewing a message and the compose message screen will be displayed.
You specify the recipient's email address on the To: line and if you wish anyone else to receive a copy of the message you are sending, type the recipient's email address on the Cc: line. The format of an email address is:

userid@domain

(where userid is the recipient's login name and domain is the domain name of the machine. e.g., xsmith@sfsu.edu)

Next you can specify a filename as an attachment to include in the message on the Attchmnt: line and then type a short one-line subject on the Subject: line. You can skip a field by pressing the tab or Return key.
When you get to the text portion of your message, you will be using Pine's text editor, called Pico, to compose your message. You can get help on using the Pico text editor by pressing CTRL-G (^G) in the text portion of the compose message screen. When you finish entering your message, you can check for spelling by pressing CTRL-T (^T). When you are ready to send your message, you press CTRL-X (^X) and answer yes when prompted by Pine. You cancel a message by pressing CTRL-C (^C).

Replying/Forwarding Mail
To reply to a message, you can view the message and press the r key or move to the message in the mail index and press the r key. You will be asked if you want to reply to all the recipients of the message and if you want to include a copy of the original message. You enter information on the message headers (To:, Cc:, Attchmnt:) and type your message in the text portion. When you finish with the message, you press CTRL-X (^X) to send the message or CTRL-C (^C) to cancel the message.
To forward a message, move to the message and press the f key. Then enter information on the message headers (To:, Cc:, Attchmnt:) and type your message in the text portion. When you are finished with the message, you press CTRL-X (^X) to send the message or CTRL-C (^C) to cancel the message.

Deleting/Undeleting Mail
To mark a message for deletion, move to the message and press d; it will be permanently deleted when you quit pine and respond yes to the prompt. To undelete a message marked for deletion, move to that message and press u. Alternatively, you can permanently delete a message from the mail index screen, by pressing x and typing y to the prompt "Expunge the message(s) from the mailbox? (y/n)."

On-line Documentation/Help
You can get on-line information about pine and pico by typing the Unix command man pine or man pico. You can get on-line help when you are working in pine or pico by pressing the appropriate help key.
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Last Modified: 26 Oct 2005
doit@sfsu.edu