Pine

This simple program runs on most mail servers on campus and can be accessed by typing pine from a Telnet session on your mail server. What is even better about Pine is that almost every function you could possibly want to use is documented on the screen in plain English.

Setup

No setup is needed. Simply open a Telnet connection to your mail server and type pine. The program is already configured to handle your mail account based on your login to the server.

Note on Pine Commands

Pine commands are shown at the bottom of each screen. There are different commands depending on where in the email program you are. For some of the commands, you may see them noted with a caret mark: ^J, for example. This is a shorthand for "Control-J". If a caret mark does not appear next to a command in the bottom part of your screen, you don't need to use the control key, just type the letter itself. These commands are NOT case-sensitive.

Composing Mail

Press C to go to composition mode. You will be given a screen with addressing info at the top and a blank space below a line for the message. You can type in the addressing info and subject, using the tab or arrow key to move back and forth between the fields. When you are ready to compose the message, tab to the Subject field and then hit Enter. Once you are done composing your message, you can send it (^X), save it and postpone the sending till later (^O) or cancel it and delete the message (^C).

Attachments

To add an attachment to a message, do the following steps.

1. Press ^X. You will then be prompted for a file name.
2. Type in the file name you wish to send at the prompt or press ^J for a list of files available in your home directory. Remember, Pine is running on the mail server, not your actual workstation. Any file you wish to send in an attachment will have to be in your home directory on the server.
3. After you have selected a file, you will be prompted for an optional comment. After entering a comment, hit Enter and you will be ready to send your message.

To retrieve an attachment, do the following steps.

1. Open the message that contains the attachment
2. Press V to view or save the attachment.
3. Press S to save the file. To accept the file, press the Enter key.
4. The file will be saved to your home directory on the mail server and can be retrieved with a program such as FTP.

Address book

To make new entries to your address book in Pine, follow these instructions.

1. Select A to open the address book.
2. Select A again to add a new entry.
3. In the nickname field, enter an easy to remember name for your new address. In the address field add the address (or list of addresses if you want to make a mailing list—just make sure to separate the individual addresses by commas).
4. Press ^X to save the new entry.

To use entries from your address book, simply type in the nickname of the address or list of addresses you want in the To: field of your message.

Adapted with permission from Sasha Mobley's awesome website. Any errors are mine, not hers. 4/16/99 swh