


MultiMail(1)                                         MultiMail(1)


NAME
       mm  -  Blue  Wave  and  QWK compatible offline mail packet
       reader

SYNOPSIS
       mm

DESCRIPTION
       MultiMail is an offline mail packet reader, supporting the
       Blue  Wave  and QWK formats. It uses a simple curses-based
       interface.

       Blue Wave and QWK packers are  used  primarily  by  dialup
       BBSes,  to  save  connect  time,  and  to provide a better
       interface to the message base.

       This manpage is for version 0.17.

USAGE
       On most screens, the available keystroke commands are dis-
       played  in  the  lower  part  of  the screen. In the mail-
       reading window, pressing F1 or '?'  will show the commands
       available there.

       The  packet  mode  is now selected automatically, based on
       the contents of the packet.

       The navigation keys, most of  which  work  throughout  the
       program, are briefly summarized only on the packet screen,
       for lack of space. :-)  Basically,  they  consist  of  the
       standard  cursor  and keypad keys, with <Enter> to select.
       For terminals without full support for these keys, aliases
       are available for some of them:

       PgDn  = B
       PgUp  = F
       Right = +
       Left  = -

       (Although   shown   in  capitals,  these  may  be  entered
       unshifted.) Of special note is  the  space  bar.  In  most
       areas  of  the program, it functions as an alias for PgDn;
       but in the mail-reading window, it works as a  combination
       PgDn/Enter  key, allowing you to page through an area with
       one key.

       If a message contains ANSI color codes (which will  appear
       as  gibberish in the mail-reading window), you may be able
       to view it as originally intended by activating  the  ANSI
       viewer.  Press  ^A,  'v', or ^V to start it.  Press 'q' to
       leave the ANSI viewer; the navigation keys are the same as
       in the mail-reading window.

       As  of  version 0.17, the ANSI viewer includes support for



                           July 5, 1998                         1





MultiMail(1)                                         MultiMail(1)


       animation. While in the ANSI viewer, press 'a', 'v', ^A or
       ^V  to  animate  the picture.  (Press any key to abort the
       animation.)

CHARACTER SETS
       At startup, MultiMail assumes  that  the  messages  you're
       reading  are  in  the IBM PC character set (codepage 437);
       and that your  terminal  uses  the  ISO  8859-1  set  (aka
       Latin-1),  which  is  standard on most Unix systems. (This
       doesn't apply to the DOS or OS/2  versions  of  MultiMail,
       which  start  up  with  translation off.) It automatically
       translates bewteen these character  sets  when  displaying
       messages and creating replies. However, you can toggle the
       translation on or off by pressing 'c' while reading a mes-
       sage  (or in the letter list, or area list). You'd want to
       do this if you were reading on a terminal that used the PC
       character  set; or if you were reading in Latin-1, and the
       message was already in Latin-1. Basically, if some charac-
       ters appear as junk, try pressing 'c'.

FILES
       The   only  hardwired  file  is  the  configuration  file:
       $HOME/.mmailrc  ($HOME/mmail.rc  in  DOS   or   OS/2)   or
       $MMAIL/.mmailrc

       Other  permanent  files  are  placed in the MultiMail home
       directory ($HOME/mmail or $MMAIL/mmail  by  default),  and
       MultiMail  uses  tmpnam()  to create temporary directories
       and files (the location is system-dependent).  Directories
       specified  in  the .mmailrc are created automatically; the
       default values are shown here:

       ~/mmail
              to store the  tagline  file,  netmail  addressbook,
              etc.

       taglines
              a plain text file, one tagline per line

       ~/mmail/down
              to store the packets as they came from the bbs

       ~/mmail/up
              to  store  the  reply  packet(s)  which you have to
              upload to the bbs

       ~/mmail/save
              is the default directory to save letters

       Please read the comments in  the  auto-generated  .mmailrc
       for more information.

UPGRADING
       As   of   0.16,  the  HOME  environment  variable  can  be



                           July 5, 1998                         2





MultiMail(1)                                         MultiMail(1)


       overridden with MMAIL, or omitted altogether.

       If you're upgrading from a version  before  0.9,  and  you
       have existing reply packets (.rep or .new) whose names are
       partly or wholly in uppercase, you  must  rename  them  to
       lowercase  before  version  0.9  or  higher will recognize
       them. (Downloaded packets are not at issue.)

       If you're upgrading from a version below 0.8, you may want
       to  manually delete the /tmp/$LOGNAME directory created by
       previous versions. (0.8 and higher  clean  out  their  own
       temp  directories,  and  use different names for each ses-
       sion.)

       If you're upgrading from a version prior  to  0.7,  please
       note  the  changes  in the default directories; previously
       they were "~/mmail/bwdown", etc.

ENVIRONMENT
       MultiMail uses the EDITOR  environment  variable  for  the
       default  editor, and HOME or MMAIL to find .mmailrc. MMAIL
       is new, as of version 0.16, and takes precedence over HOME
       if it's defined. If neither is defined, the startup direc-
       tory is used. (This is also new in 0.16.)

       Depending on the implementation, TMP and/or TEMP may  also
       be  used to specify the directory for temporary files. The
       use of EDITOR can  be  overridden  in  .mmailrc;  however,
       environment variables can't be used within .mmailrc.

NOTES
       The  Escape  key  works to back out from most screens, but
       after you press it, you'll have to wait a bit for it to be
       sensed (with ncurses; not true with PDCurses).

       Only  Blue  Wave style taglines (beginning with "...") are
       recognized by the tagline stealer.  The  tagline  must  be
       visible on the screen to be taken.

       Netmail  only  works in Blue Wave mode, and is still some-
       what limited;  much  better  than  in  previous  versions,
       though.  If you receive netmail from a point, and the mes-
       sage has no origin line, the point number will not be rec-
       ognized  (but  the  rest  of the address will be). You can
       send to points, however, and point numbers in origin lines
       will be recognized.

AUTHORS
       Originally  developed by Kolossvary Tamas and Toth Istvan,
       and then by John Zero.  Currently  maintained  by  William
       McBrine <wmcbrine@clark.net>.

BUGS
       If  you  find  any  bugs,  or  have ideas for improvement,



                           July 5, 1998                         3





MultiMail(1)                                         MultiMail(1)


       please write to me.
























































                           July 5, 1998                         4


