1 01/14/87  print_messages, pm
  2 
  3 Syntax as a command:  pm msg_specs {mbx_specification} {-control_args}
  4 
  5 
  6 Function:  prints any interprocess messages that were received (and
  7 saved in the user's mailbox) while the user was not accepting messages,
  8 not logged in, or "accept_messages -hold_messages" was in effect.
  9 
 10 
 11 Arguments:
 12 msg_specs
 13    are one or more numbers or ranges.  Numbers are as printed next to
 14    each message when accept_messages -hold_messages is in effect.
 15    Ranges are of the form N:M, where N<=M and both N and M are valid
 16    message numbers.  You can use the keywords "first" (f) and "last"
 17    (l) as message numbers and the keyword "all" (a) as a range
 18    (equivalent to "f:l").
 19 mbx_specification
 20    specifies the mailbox from which messages are to be printed.  If not
 21    given, the user's default mailbox (>udd>Project>Person>Person.mbx)
 22    is used.
 23 
 24 
 25 Control arguments:
 26 -after DATE_TIME
 27    prints messages sent after DATE_TIME only.
 28 -all, -a
 29    prints all messages, including those held by the -hold_messages mode
 30    (see accept_messages).  (Default)
 31 -before DATE_TIME
 32    prints messages sent before DATE_TIME only.
 33 -brief, -bf
 34    suppresses an error message when no matching messages are found.
 35 
 36 
 37 -call cmdline
 38    calls the command processor with a string of the form:
 39 
 40          cmdline number sender time message {path}
 41 
 42    where:
 43    cmdline
 44       is any Multics command line; enclose it in quotes if it contains
 45       blanks or other command language characters.
 46    number
 47       is the sequence number of the message, assigned when you use
 48       -hold; otherwise it is 0.
 49    sender
 50       is the User_id of the person who sent the message.
 51 
 52 
 53    time
 54       is the date-time the message was sent.
 55    message
 56       is the message sent.
 57    path
 58       is the pathname of the mailbox to which the message was sent.  If
 59       the message was sent to the default mailbox, path is omitted.
 60    -comment STR, -com STR
 61       prints messages with comment fields containing STR only.
 62    -exclude STR
 63       prints messages with text not containing STR only.
 64    -from STR, -fm STR
 65       prints messages sent from STR only.  STR can be of the form
 66       Person.Project, Person, or .Project.
 67 
 68 
 69    -last, -lt
 70       prints only the latest message received.  You can't use it with
 71       any other message selection arguments.
 72    -long, -lg
 73       prints the sender and date-time of every message, even when the
 74       same for two consecutive messages.  It overrides -brief.
 75    -match STR
 76       prints messages with text containing STR only.
 77    -messages, -msg
 78       prints regular messages (nonnotifications) only.
 79    -no_messages, -nmsg
 80       suppresses -messages.
 81    -no_notifications, -nnt
 82       nullifies -notifications.
 83 
 84 
 85    -notifications, -nt
 86       deletes notifications only.
 87    -new
 88       when accept_messages -hold is in effect, prints only those
 89       messages that have not been printed before.  (Default:  to print
 90       all held messages)
 91    -short, -sh
 92       precedes consecutive messages from the same sender by "=" instead
 93       of the Person_id and Project_id, and does not print the date-time
 94       string, but only if less than five minutes have passed since the
 95       previous message.  It omits the date if the current message and
 96       the previous one are received on the same date.  (Default)
 97 
 98 
 99 List of mbx specifications:
100 -log
101    specifies the user's logbox and is equivalent to
102 
103          -mailbox >udd>Project_id>Person_id>Person_id.sv.mbx
104 
105 -mailbox path, -mbx path
106    specifies the pathname of a mailbox.  The suffix .mbx is added if
107    necessary.
108 -save path, -sv path
109    specifies the pathname of a savebox.  The suffix .sv.mbx is added if
110    necessary.
111 -user STR
112    specifies either a user's default mailbox or an entry in the system
113    mail table.
114 STR
115    is any noncontrol argument and is first interpreted as -mailbox STR;
116    if no mailbox is found, STR is then interpreted as -save STR; if no
117    savebox is found, it is interpreted as -user STR.
118 
119 
120 Notes:  A default mailbox is created the first time you issue
121 print_mail, read_mail, or accept_messages.  The default mailbox is:
122 
123       >udd>Project_id>Person_id>Person_id.mbx
124 
125 Messages are deleted after they are printed unless accept_messages
126 -hold_messages is in effect); however, the last message remains
127 available for the life of the process or until replaced by a new
128 message.  (See also last_message, last_message_sender, and
129 last_message_time.)
130 
131 If you are deferring messages, it is a good practice to use the
132 print_messages command periodically to print out pending messages.
133