PDP-10.its/doc/_info_/qmail.info

QMAIL gist:
 
:QMAIL name@site,name2@site2,...<CRLF>
<message> ^C
 
QMAIL details:
Qmail sends messages to people over
the network or locally; the "Q" is for "queue" as it
always operates by queueing mail to a special
independent program which does the actual sending.
It can be used as something of an adulterated DDT ":MAIL" command
as shown above (":QMAIL FOO MESSAGE^C will work),
but is much more useful when one knows the
magic character... i.e., alt-mode.
 
(alt-mode) followed by:
?- lists commands.
T- To: <name>,<name2>,... i.e. add to mailing list.
U- Un-to: <name>,<name2>... uh, take him off mailing list.
'*' works as either a name or site. Alone, flushes all.
S- Subject: specify a subject line. Null line deletes.
F- From: <name> this command is unnecessary unless your UNAME
is not the real you.
A- Append <file> at end of message text.
Q- Quit, as in :KILL
 
-----------------------------------------------
Keyboard notes:
^G: stops typeout
^L: re-displays mailing list and text.
^Q: quote next char.
CR: safe reply to most any input request.
RUBOUT: is moderately clever.
ALT-MODE: command invocation, echoes as a ">" prompt.
 
(on TV's)
META & TOP: will quote and TOPify, respectively.
-----------------------------------------------
 
OTHER COMMANDS:
 
/- Slashification switch complement. When on, characters will
be converted to lowercase unless preceded by a slash,
just as in TECO. Useful for entering lower case on
uppercase terminals such as Datapoints.
L- List the mailing list. Useful for non-displays.
Z- Zap, i.e. clear message buffer (but preserve mailing list)
^C- Sends message but restarts Qmail instead of quitting.
Note this is <alt>^C, not just plain ^C.
 
W- Write <file> containing message text. Useful if Edit-escape
(see below) is too kludgy for you or doesn't work.
I- Insert <file> Just like Append.
Y- Yank <file> in as message text, anything already in message
buffer will be flushed.
G- Get <file> Starts reading <file> data as if it came from the
console; information in the file will simply be added to
whatever already exists. Commands can be given. PUT
will write a file which GET understands.
P- Put <file> out which contains all info necessary to recreate
the entire message.
 
E- Edit Escape to TECO.
This writes a file named _MAIL_ _EDIT_ on the
directory the user's sname points to, and valrets a
":TECO _MAIL_ _EDIT_" to DDT. In most cases,
barring invalid system names and cranky TECO INIT's, this
kludge will get the message thus far into a TECO
buffer, where the user can then edit
to his heart's content. When QMAIL is
proceeded (not restarted!) it will try to read that
file back into its own buffer, so after
TECO'ing the message one should write it
back where it came from. (EWEE Some time in the
future this will be replaced by a more
winning invocation; until then, good luck.
 
R Receipt-switch complement. Default (off) means
you will be mailed a receipt for only those
messages which could not be sent immediately.
If enabled, receipts will always be given.
This dates from days of unreliable service.
 
V Variant force. Default variety of message is ITS for
solely intra-ITS mail, TENEX for mail with one or
more non-ITS recipients. This command will force
format to whichever you specify. (CR restores the
default)
 
============================================================
Syntax of a "name" or recipient
 
The general format is <name>, <name>@<site>, or
<name>%<site>. (From TIPs, % is easier to type).
All reasonable host nicknames (and unique fractions thereof)
should be recognized. Let me know if your favorite
names aren't there.
There are two special "name" formats with
special effects. One is "sticky site"; giving
a host specification (i.e., "@site") alone will
make that host apply to all subsequent names which
have no host spec, but only until another host
spec is found. If this is another sticky site,
the default host is now this new sticky site,
otherwise it reverts to the local site regardless
of the unsticking host spec. The idea is to
be able to specify a site and follow it with the
names of all recipients at that site; e.g.
 
@sail, foo1,foo2, foo3, bar @ ml,friend
sends to FOO1, FOO2, and FOO3 at Stanford,
BAR at Mathlab, and FRIEND locally.
 
The second special format is "(filename)"
where the file is taken to contain a string of
names in the same format as might be typed in;
that is, a distribution list. The world is
actually pushed and popped, so distribution
lists can include the names of other lists, to
a depth of 7 or so. E.G.
 
@ai,larry,curly,moe,(klh;people list),oof
sends to 3 people at MIT-AI, to all the
recipients listed in "klh;people list",
and OOF locally.
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
ADDENDUM
 
Also, there is a job (disowned, variously named
after some communications satellite or another) which
does the actual mailing, and enables
network mail to be "sent" irregardless of
remote host status; the satellite simply waits until
the destination comes alive. If it is running,
mail should be delivered within a minute; QMAIL
writes the message instantly to a file and exits, but
the satellite may take a while to notice
the file. Note that this scheme is painless for
messages to many recipients, to dead foreign hosts,
and to large mail files (such as SYS).
If the satellite is not orbiting (or otherwise screwed)
mail will take longer, i.e. until it is restarted
or fixed, but will eventually arrive.
(neither crash, glitch, nor parity etc...)
 
All bugs, suggestions, etc to KLH @ AI.