Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- s-mailx [2022/02/07 17:43] – created zilog
+++ s-mailx [2022/06/26 15:15] (current) – flagged Gmail config as no longer functional zilog
@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 ===== Documentation and Features =====
-The s-mailx(1) manpage ((use ''$ man s-nail'' to ensure you are reading s-mailx documentation)) is the best place to learn all it's features but the standouts are:
+The s-mailx manpage, ''s-nail(1)''((the s-nail(1) manpage also available in html format on the project's website)), is very detailed and the best place to learn about its features but the standouts are:
-  * all of Heirloom-mailx features: POP3/IMAP/SMTP, folder hooks, macros, threading, etc.
+  * all Heirloom-mailx features: POP3/IMAP/SMTP, folder hooks, macros, threading, etc.
   * Maildir support
+  * readline (cmd history)
   * optional coloration
   * enhanced spam filtering
@@ Line 21: / Line 22: @@
 ==== Configuration ====
-The default user configuration file for S-mailx is ''~/.mailrc'', unfortunately also used by the native NetBSD mail(1) client.  If you never plan to use native mail(1) then you can go ahead and put all your settings in ''~/.mailrc'' ; chances are the native mail(1) will just ignore any settings it doesn't understand.  A somewhat better option which maintains settings separation is to create a minimal ''~/.mailrc'' and add the following to it:
+Several S-mailx options are pre-set via ''/usr/pkg/etc/s-nail.rc'', the system-wide S-mailx configuration file; worth checking out to see what the defaults are before making customizations.
+The default user configuration file for S-mailx is ''~/.mailrc'' , unfortunately also used by the native NetBSD mail(1) and Heirloom-mailx clients.  If you never plan to use the other clients then you can go ahead and put all your settings in ''~/.mailrc'' ; chances are the native NetBSD mail(1) will just ignore any settings it doesn't understand; Heirloom-mailx likely will complain more.  A somewhat better option which maintains settings separation is to create a minimal ''~/.mailrc'' and add the following to it:
 <file ~sdfuser/.mailrc>
@@ Line 41: / Line 44: @@
 </file>
-Note that this technique is also used for the Heirloom mailx client via the NAIL_EXTRA_RC variable; having both ''NAIL_EXTRA_RC'' and ''mailx-extra-rc'' set in ''~sdfuser/.mailrc'' will likely produce ignorable but annoying errors when S-mailx is run.
+Note that this technique is also used for the Heirloom mailx client via the NAIL_EXTRA_RC variable; having both ''NAIL_EXTRA_RC'' and ''mailx-extra-rc'' set in ''~sdfuser/.mailrc'' will likely produce ignore-able but fairly annoying errors when S-mailx is run.
 <file config ~/.s-nailrc>
 ## ~sdfuser/.s-nailrc file - use with /usr/pkg/bin/s-nail
+# hold mail in system Inbox (default):
+set hold
 # see s-nail(1) for details:
 set v15-compat=yes
+# set EDITOR if different than default:
+#set EDITOR=vi
 # allow "dot" EOF; reverse 'r'/'R'; print next msg:
 set bsdcompat dot flip autoprint
-# set some additional headers (must separate w/ commas):
+## Mbox settings:
-set customhdr='Organization: SDF Public Access UNIX System,\
+set from='SDF User <sdfuser@sdf.org>'
-               Zodiac-Sign: Scorpio'
+set reply-to='SDF User <sdfuser@sdf.org>'
+# redundant is set in ~/.mailrc:
+set folder=mail
+# '+' prefix => relative to ~/mail/:
+set MBOX=+Save
+set record=+Sent
+shortcut saved +Save
+shortcut sent +Sent
+## automatic MIME type processing:
+# pipe all webified msgs thru lynx(1):
+set pipe-text/html='?* lynx -stdin -dump -force_html'
+## command aliases:
+# use to return from remote accts:
+commandalias home 'account null'
+# match mail(1) cmd:
+commandalias inc 'newmail'
+# quiet the 'set' cmd:
+commandalias set '\ignerr set'
+# thread/unthread cmds:
+commandalias thrd 'sort thread'
+commandalias uthr 'unsort'
+## email address aliases:
+alias snail-list  "S-Mailx List <s-mailx@sdaoden.eu>"
+# group aliases - note: cc/bcc mailings need to have
+#                       at least one To: entry
+#alias hop-list	  hoppy@mud.bog \
+#		  mrwarts@mud.bog \
+#		  "Kermit <froggy@mud.bog>"
+## SMTP stuff:
+# wait until MTA finishes when sending mail.
+# => allows seeing any errors:
+set sendwait
+### IMAP accounts section: ###
+# Another SDF user account:
+account sdfuser2 {
+        set hold
+        # just because..
+        set ssl-verify-mx.sdf.org=ignore
+        set MBOX=+Saved
+        set folder=imaps://sdfuser2@mx.sdf.org/
+        set inbox=imaps://sdfuser2@mx.sdf.org/
+        set password-sdfuser2@mx.sdf.org="********"
+        set from='SDF User2 <sdfuser2@sdf.org>'
+        set record=+Sent
+        shortcut saved +Saved
+        shortcut sent +Sent
+        }
+### note: due to 2022 Gmail policy change this no longer works ###
+# Typical Gmail IMAP/SMTP w/ SSL setup (enable IMAP on your acct first);
+# note use of "URL percent encoded" chars in some settings, i.e. '%40' = '@' :
+account gmail {
+        set hold
+        set folder="imaps://gmail.user%40gmail.com@imap.gmail.com/INBOX"
+        set inbox="imaps://gmail.user%40gmail.com@imap.gmail.com/INBOX"
+        set password-gmail.user%40gmail.com@imap.gmail.com='********'
+        set shortcut sent="imaps://gmail.user%40gmail.com@imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/Sent Mail"
+        set shortcut trash="imaps://gmail.user%40gmail.com@imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/Trash"
+        set from='Gmail User <gmail.user@gmail.com>'
+        set reply-to='Gmail User <gmail.user@gmail.com>'
+        set record=+Sent
+        shortcut saved +Saved
+        shortcut sent +Sent
+        ### Gmail SMTP stuff ###
+        # => reserved chars in SMTP pwd need to be URL percent encoded <=
+        set mta="smtps://gmail.user%40gmail.com:*********@smtp.gmail.com
+        }
+</file>
+===== S-mailx Usage =====
+Basic usage is essentially identical for all mailx-style clients and so won't be covered here; see the [[traditional_mail_1_mailx_1#getting_started|Documentation]] to get started.
+S-mailx has fairly decent interactive help.  Get a listing of all commands with ''list'', then use ''help <command>'' to see a short synopsis of the command.  Type ''set'' for list of current settings or ''showvar <setting/variable>'' for specific setting.  If one or more errors are reported the ''errors'' commands will provide the details.  S-mailx also has EMACS-style command line editting, i.e. **CTRL+P / CTRL+N** or **⬆ / ⬇** (Up/Down arrow keys) selects prior commands, **CTRL+W** deletes a word, etc.
+==== Remote accounts ====
+Remote or alternate SDF accounts are accessed via the ''account'' command -- can be abbreviated to ''ac''.  Run without an arguement ''acc'' simply lists any configured accounts.  To switch to an account within a S-mailx session use ''ac <acct_name>'' ; to start S-mailx on a specific account from the shell use ''$ s-nail -A <acct_name> [-f <subfolder>]''.  For example, if we have an alternate SDF account named ""sdfuser2"" which has a sub-folder called "Spam" we'd use
+<code>$ s-nail -A sdfuser2 -f +Spam</code>
+Note the "+" ; sub-folders //under// your main mail directory, i.e. //~/mail//, are accessed using ''fi +<subfolder>'' ; use user-configurable shortcuts to make this more convenience, i.e. setting ''shortcut sent +Sent'' allows switching to folder "+Sent" with ''fi sent''.
+If multiple folders are configured for an account they can usually be listed using the ''folders'' command; to switch folders use ''fi <folder>''.  Pretty much all mailx-style clients also support the following shortcuts:
+^  shortcut  ^folder description^
+|  %         | system Inbox     |
+|  #         | previous folder  |
+|  &         | account MBOX     |
+To return to your default account -- the one associated with YOU -- within a S-mailx session use ''account null''.  It's handy to create a command alias for this; see the ""comandalias home"" entry in the example configuration file.
+==== Colors and other hacks ====
+S-mailx can colorize your session experience depending on your terminal's capabilities.  The default SDF TERM value may not be ideal; if you aren't seeing colors try setting TERM to //linux//.
+Example:
+<code file=~sdfuser/.s-nailrc>
+# colors: prompt & msg info=teal, headers=green, errors=red:
+set colour-pager
+if terminal && "$features" =% ,+colour,
+        colour iso view-msginfo fg=cyan
+        colour iso view-header ft=bold,fg=green (from|date|subject) # regex
+        colour iso view-header fg=green
+        colour iso mle-prompt fg=cyan
+        colour iso mle-error fg=red
+endif
+</code>
+Note european spelling -- use //colour//.  See //s-nail(1)// for other possibilities.
+Hacking the prompt: by default the S-mailx prompt is just a **//?//**.  By making use of S-mailx internal variables the prompt can be made more informative.  For example, to display the system path to the active folder:
+<code file=~sdfuser/.s-nailrc>
+set prompt='[\$mailbox-resolved] > '
+</code>
+For a local folder, say //~sdfuser/mail/Sent// this might display as
+<code> [/sdf/mail/maildir/s/sdfuser/Sent] > </code>
+Not bad.  However, remote IMAP accounts can look a bit uglier: <code> [imaps://gmail.user%40gmail.com@imap.gmail.com/[Gmail]/Sent Mail] > </code>
+If you are accessing such accounts you're already aware of their type; no need to display the full path.  The following hack checks if variable //acount// is set (only set for remote accounts) and if so, uses a regex expression to filter the contents of the //mailbox-resolved// variable to just display the account and folder names:
+<code file=~sdfuser/.s-nailrc>
+# customize prompt
+define custom-prompt {
+  if -z $'\$account'
+    set prompt='[\$mailbox-resolved] > '
+  else
+    vput vexpr prompt regex "$mailbox-resolved" ([^/]+)$ '[\$account]:\$1 > '
+  endif
+  }
+set folder-hook=custom-prompt
+</code>
+Now when we switch to our account "gmail" we get something like the following:
+<code>
+...
+[gmail]:INBOX > fi sent
+...
+[gmail]:Sent Mail >
+</code>
+A bit nicer!  The //s-nail(1)// manpage has additional documentation on using ''vput'' and ''vexpr''.  Much of S-mailx's functionality depends on the version in use AND whether //v15-compat// is set; S-mailx on another system may not appear to behave the same way.