MSGS(1)                                                                MSGS(1)


NAME
       msgs - system messages and junk mail program

SYNOPSIS
       msgs [ -fhlpq ] [ number ] [ -number ]

       msgs -s

       msgs -c [ -days ]

DESCRIPTION
       Msgs is used to read system messages.  These messages are sent by mail‐
       ing to the login ‘msgs’ and should be short pieces of information which
       are suitable to be read once by most users of the system.

       Msgs is normally invoked each time you login, by placing it in the file
       .login (.profile if you use /bin/sh).  It will then prompt you with the
       source  and  subject of each new message.  If there is no subject line,
       the first few non-blank lines of the message  will  be  displayed.   If
       there is more to the message, you will be told how long it is and asked
       whether you wish  to  see  the  rest  of  the  message.   The  possible
       responses are:

       y      type the rest of the message.

       RETURN synonym for y.

       n      skip this message and go on to the next message.

       -      redisplay the last message.

       q      drops you out of msgs; the next time you run the program it will
              pick up where you left off.

       s      append the current message to the file ‘‘Messages’’ in the  cur‐
              rent directory; ‘s-’ will save the previously displayed message.
              A ‘s’ or ‘s-’ may be followed by a space  and  a  file  name  to
              receive the message replacing the default ‘‘Messages’’.

       m      or ‘m-’ causes a copy of the specified message to be placed in a
              temporary mailbox and mail(1) to be  invoked  on  that  mailbox.
              Both  ‘m’ and ‘s’ accept a numeric argument in place of the ‘-’.

       Msgs keeps track of the next message you will see by a  number  in  the
       file  .msgsrc  in  your  home directory.  In the directory /usr/msgs it
       keeps a set of files whose names are the (sequential)  numbers  of  the
       messages  they  represent.  The file /usr/msgs/bounds shows the low and
       high number of the messages in the directory so that msgs  can  quickly
       determine  if there are no messages for you.  If the contents of bounds
       is incorrect it can be fixed by removing  it;  msgs  will  make  a  new
       bounds file the next time it is run.

       The -s option is used for setting up the posting of messages.  The line

              msgs: "| /usr/ucb/msgs -s"

       should be include in /usr/lib/aliases to enable posting of messages.

       The -c option is used for performing cleanup on  /usr/msgs.   An  entry
       with  the  -c  option should be placed in /usr/lib/crontab to run every
       night.  This will remove all messages over 21 days  old.   A  different
       expiration  may  be  specified  on  the  command  line  to override the
       default.

       Options when reading messages include:

       -f     which causes it not to say ‘‘No new messages.’’.  This is useful
              in your .login file since this is often the case here.

       -q     Queries  whether  there  are  messages, printing ‘‘There are new
              messages.’’ if there are.  The command ‘‘msgs -q’’ is often used
              in login scripts.

       -h     causes msgs to print the first part of messages only.

       -l     option causes only locally originated messages to be reported.

       num    A  message number can be given on the command line, causing msgs
              to start at the specified message rather than at the  next  mes‐
              sage indicated by your .msgsrc file.  Thus

                  msgs -h 1

              prints the first part of all messages.

       -number
              will cause msgs to start number messages back from the one indi‐
              cated by your .msgsrc file, useful for reviews  of  recent  mes‐
              sages.

       -p     causes long messages to be piped through more(1).

       Within  msgs you can also go to any specific message by typing its num‐
       ber when msgs requests input as to what to do.

FILES
       /usr/msgs/*         database
       ~/.msgsrc           number of next message to be presented

AUTHORS
       William Joy
       David Wasley

SEE ALSO
       aliases(5), crontab(5), mail(1), more(1)

BUGS
4th Berkeley Distribution         May 9, 1986                          MSGS(1)
 
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