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To delete a message from a file of messages you’re reading, you use the d command. If you quit the mail program by using q, any messages you deleted with the d command are removed from the file.
You use the d or delete command to mark messages for deletion when you use mail to read your e-mail. If you then quit the program with q, the marked messages are removed from your mailbox. Unless you’ve saved them, they’re gone for good. For some messages, deleting without saving them is a very good idea.
To delete the current message, type d and press <Return>. You can also specify a message list.
If you mark a message or a group of messages to be deleted, you can change your mind and undelete the message or messages by using the u command. You must use the u command before you enter q to quit; when you enter q, the messages are gone for good. Use the u or undelete command in the same way you use d or delete.
TIP: To undelete all the messages you marked for deletion, enter u * at the ? prompt.
To reply to e-mail, use the address specified in the Reply-To header field. If that field isn’t present, use the information in the Return-Path header field. Following are partial headers of two messages; one has both header fields, and the other has only the Return-Path header field. The pertinent fields are in bold in each example.
Message 1: From [email protected] Mon Nov 8 18:31 EST 1993 Received: from MALTE.ABC.COM by s850.mwc.edu with SMTP Return-Path: <[email protected]> Date: Mon, 8 Nov 93 18:17:15 -0500 Comment: From the DuJour List Originator: [email protected] Errors-To: [email protected] Reply-To: <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Message 2: From jones Fri, Jan 7 13:22 EST 1994 Received: by your.system.com Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 13:22:01 -0500 From: Carol Jones <jones> Return-Path: <jones> To: aborat, lynn, oackerm, bkorn Subject: Draft Report
To reply to the first message, use the Reply-To address [email protected]. Note that the Reply-To and Return-Path fields are different. In the second example, use jones to respond to the sender of the message.
NOTE: Always use the Reply-To address if it’s included in the header because it represents the specific address of the sender. When the Reply-To address isn’t available, the Return-Path address usually provides an adequate address back to the sender.
You can let the mail program determine the address to use to reply to an electronic mail message. To do this, use either of the following commands:
| R | Addresses a reply to the sender of the message |
| r | Addresses a reply to the sender and all recipients of an e-mail message |
With either command, you can specify a message list, as explained earlier in this chapter. Otherwise, the R or r command applies to the current message.
The following partial header shows how to use these two commands. This header is excerpted from a message from Carol Jones, in which she asks a group to comment on a draft of a report she has prepared:
From jonesFri, Jan 7 13:22 EST 1994 Received: by your.system.com Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 13:22:01 -0500 From: Carol Jones <jones> Return-Path: <jones> To: aborat, lynn, oackerm, bkorn Subject: Draft Report
To respond to jones only, enter R at the ? prompt. You see the following response:
To: jones Subject: Re: Draft Report
The To line tells you that the reply is going to one person. The Subject header indicates that the message is a reply to the one originally sent.
To make comments for everyone on the distribution list to see, enter r at the ? prompt. You see the following response lines:
To: jones, aborat, lynn, oackerm, bkorn Subject: Re: Draft Report
The To line tells you that the reply is going to everyone on the original distribution list, as well as the author. The Subject header indicates that the message is a reply to the one originally sent.
From here on, you enter your message in the manner described earlier in the section “Sending E-Mail with mail.”
CAUTION:
Be careful about using r to reply to a message. Whatever you send is sent to everyone who got a copy of the original message. Because Linux is case-sensitive and most people aren’t used to typing capital letters as commands, it’s a very common mistake and can sometimes be embarrassing.
NOTE: Think about what you write and who will read your message before you send a reply. Being sarcastic or scathing doesn’t work very well with e-mail—you usually end up sounding like a bully. Using e-mail isn’t the same as talking with someone: You don’t get a chance to see or hear the person’s reactions, and he or she doesn’t get a chance to see or hear you, either. When you use e-mail, it’s a lot easier and more effective to be polite and direct.You can see how easy it is to forward mail; as soon as you send something to one person, you can never tell where the message will end up or how many people will see it. Think, and be considerate.
See “Lack of Visual Reference,” p. 662
E-mail is distributed by addresses. Tasks such as forwarding a message, sending copies (cc:) of a message, creating aliases or simpler forms of addresses, and creating mailing lists all involve manipulating addresses. You don’t have to do the manipulation directly—the mail program has these capabilities built in.
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