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Using Pine for Email
Pine is an electronic mail
program that you can use with your uoregon.edu account. This handout
explains the basics of sending and receiving mail with Pine,
as well as describing some of Pine’s more advanced
features. Email addresses at the UO are usually in the form username@uoregon.edu,
where username is the person’s account username (e.g., jsmith),
and host is the name of the timesharing computer where the person
has an account (e.g., uoregon.edu).
To run Pine, log in on your timesharing account
(i.e., uoregon.edu) and type
- pine (UNIX
systems) or $ pine (VMS)
You’ll see Pine’s main menu displayed:
Along the bottom of the screen, you’ll see the keyboard
commands that enable you to access Pine’s basic
functions. You can type m from anywhere in Pine to
get back to this menu.
From the main menu, type i (index). This
brings up a screen that lists all the messages in your current
mailbox.
To read the message currently highlighted, type v (view)
or press Enter. To select another message for reading,
type either n (next) or p (previous) to move
through the list.
When you type v, Pine displays
the text of the message.
 For long messages, press the space bar to move forward one
screen at a time, and the - (dash) key to
move backward. When you've finished reading the message,
you can type n to move on to the next message, p to
move back up to the previous message, i (index)
to view the index for the current mailbox, or m to
return to the main menu.
To mark a message for deletion, type d.
When you leave Pine at the end of the session, you
are asked if you really want to delete the message. Type y to
delete messages.
Composing and Sending Messages
-
Type m to return to the main
menu (if you are not already there), then c (compose)
to bring up the screen where you compose messages:
- Type the recipient's email address at the To: prompt,
and press Enter. The address should be in the form
- jsmith@uoregon.edu
Note: If the recipient has an account on
the computer you are logged in on, just use the username
by itself (e.g., jsmith).
- For now, press Enter twice to bypass Cc: (copies
to other recipients) and Attchmnt: (binary
or large text files attached).
- Type the subject of the message at the Subject: prompt
and press Enter.
- Type your message in the message text area. When you’re
finished, type Ctrl-x (hold down the control
key and press the letter x). Pine then
asks
- Send message?
- Press Enter to send it and return to the main
menu.
Replying to Messages
If you wish to reply to a message you are reading,
- Type r (reply). Pine then asks
- Include original message in
reply?
- Type y to include the message or n (or Enter)
to compose your reply without the original message.
- The reply screen is displayed. (It looks similar to the
compose message screen shown above.) The recipient’s
email address and the subject are entered for you.
- Type the text of your message; when you’re finished,
type Ctrl-x. Pine then asks
- Send message?
- Press Enter to send the reply; then type i to
go back to your list of messages.
Managing
Your Email with Pine’s
Folders
When your email is received by the timesharing host, it
is stored in a file called INBOX. Because there is a limit
on the size of this file, we recommend that you use Pine’s
email managing features to move important messages to your
home directory. If your INBOX exceeds the allowed
size, you will not be able to receive new mail until you
delete old messages or transfer them to another folder.
Pine represents the files where your mail is stored as “folders.” To
display the list of current folders, type a letter l,
then press Enter while the message “[select
here…]” is highlighted.
Here’s a description of the default folders and their
functions:
- INBOX - This folder stores incoming mail when
it is sent to you. Unless you act on the mail in this folder,
it remains there until the end of the month. Pine is set
to prompt you at the end of each month to transfer messages
from this folder to a folder called mail-month-yr
(e.g., mail-may-96). This is a convenient way to save older
important messages.
- saved-messages - This is the default folder where
your messages are stored when you use Pine’s s (save)
command. You can also create a new folder for storing mail
by typing s filename while viewing a message.
- sent-mail - Any mail you send is automatically “carbon-copied” to
this folder. Pine is set to prompt you at the end of each
month to transfer messages from this folder to a folder
called sent-mail-month-yr. This is a convenient
way to save older messages that are still important.
- postponed-msgs - This folder stores messages that
you have earlier postponed (by typing Ctrl-o while
you were creating them). If you receive a query asking
if you want to continue with postponed messages, you can
open this folder and delete any messages in it.
Pine is set up on your timesharing account with
certain default settings that you can modify in the configuration
screen.
- At Pine’s main menu, type s (setup).
Then type c to view the list of Pine’s configuration
choices.
- Use your up- and down-arrow keys to move through the
choices in the list. To get a description of any item in
the list, scroll to it and type ?. Then type e to
return to the configuration list.
- The first seventeen items require you to first type a (add
value) or c (change value) and then enter a value.
You can toggle many of the other items on and off
by pressing Enter.
Creating a Signature File. A signature
is a short block of text appended to the end of your email
messages. It can include your name, title, a quote, or any
other information you wish to include when “signing” your
correspondence. To set up a signature file, use Pico or
vi to create a short signature file and save it as .signature in
your home directory. (OREGON users:
save it as pine.signature.) Once you’ve
set up a signature, it appears automatically at the bottom
of any message or reply you compose.
The Address Book allows you to store and retrieve frequently-
used email addresses. To use the Address Book,
- Type a at Pine’s main menu to display
the list of addresses.
- Type another a and you’ll be prompted to
enter the full name, nickname, and email address for the
recipient. Press Enter to save your entry.
- When composing or replying to a message, you can enter
a nickname in the To: field and press Enter. Pine replaces
the nickname with the full email address.
- Alternately, type a at Pine’s main
menu to view the Address Book. Use the arrow keys to select
an entry in the list, then type c to display a “compose
message” screen with the recipient’s address
already filled in.
- You can also type Ctrl-t from the Compose Message
screen to view the address book. Use the arrow keys to
select an entry in the list, then press Enter to
select the recipient’s address, or you can type e to
exit the address book.
When you're finished using Pine, type m to
return to the main menu (if necessary), then q to
exit. Pine then asks
- Really quit pine?
Press Enter to leave Pine. If you wish to
log out of your timesharing account, type logout at
the system prompt.
Pine has an extensive online help system that describes
its features in detail. For an index of topics, type ? from
the Main Menu. You can also access context-sensitive help
by typing a ? from anywhere in Pine.
The official Pine Web site is at
http://www.washington.edu/pine/
If you need additional help, contact a consultant at consult@uoregon.edu.
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