1. Log on to Unix if necessary.  

2. Send yourself at least four messages specifying how the weather 

looks today (or concerning anything else).

3. Now check for your mail.  Look at the first message, then press d 

to delete it.

4. Look at the second message, then type s savemail to save it in 

your home directory.

5. Exit the mail system using x; This cancels your deletions.

6. List the file savemail on the screen using cat.

7. Enter the mail system again.  Note that the message list is the 

same.  Delete the first message again.

8.  When the 2nd message is displayed, press p to show it again.  

Then delete it.

9.  Save the third message to your mailbox mbox with s or mb, 

then check your directory while still in the mail system to see if the 

mbox file is there.  (Don't worry if it doesn't appear yet.)

10. Leave the mail system with q, and check the directory again; 

notice that mbox is present now.  Then reenter the mail system.  

Notice that the former first three messages is gone.

11. Check the mail system online help facility.

12. Send yourself a message from within mail; use the m 

command, and type several lines.  Use ~. or  to end the 

message.

13. Examine the rest of your mail, making dispositions as you like.


If it doesn't work:

A.  If you can't get into the mail system, try mail -f mbox as the 
command.

B. If you don't have any mail, and you sent yourself some earlier, 
try cat mbox.  Some systems automatically send viewed mail to 
mbox, so if you used Return to page through messages earlier, 
they may have been transferred already.  Just send yourself four 
or five short messages and try the exercise again.

C. If you have trouble sending yourself mail, use the following
command: echo a one line message | mail $LOGNAME

D.If the commands have slightly different effects, check your 
documentation or online help using the man or info commands.

Questions? Robert Katz:rkatz@ned.highline.edu
Last Update June 24, 2002