


      MSGS(1)                     (bsd 4.2)                     MSGS(1)



      NAME
           msgs - system messages and junk mail program

      SYNTAX
           msgs [ -fhlopq ]    to read messages
           msgs -s   to place messages
           msgs -c [-days]     to clean up old ]

      DESCRIPTION
           Msgs is used to read system messages.  These messages are
           sent by using the '-s' option and should be short pieces of
           information which are suitable to be read once by most users
           of the system.

           Msgs will be invoked each time you login when it is placed
           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.

           p      pipe message through more(1) and print.

           P      turn off piping through more(1) and print message.

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

           x      same as q.

           s      append the current message to the file ``Messages''
                  in the current directory; `s-' will save the
                  previously displayed message. A `s' or `s-' may be
                  followed by a space and a filename 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



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      MSGS(1)                     (bsd 4.2)                     MSGS(1)



           number in the file .msgsrc in your home directory.  If the
           .msgrc file does not exist, msgs will create it. 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.

           Options to msgs include:

           -s     Places messages in /usr/msgs directory, in
                  preparation for reading by other users.  The -s
                  option will prompt you for the subject and text of
                  your message.  A <ctrl> d allows you to exit.

           -c [-days]
                  Can only be invoked by root or the daemon.  Defaults
                  to removing all files 21 days or older.  Any number
                  of days can be specified.

           -o     Before exiting, msgs will prompt you for any
                  additional commands.

           -f     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 message indicated by your
                  .msgsrc file.  Thus

                      msgs -h 1

                  prints the first part of all messages.

           -number
                  will cause msgs to start the number of messages back
                  from the one indicated by your .msgsrc file.  This is
                  useful for reviews of recent messages.




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      MSGS(1)                     (bsd 4.2)                     MSGS(1)



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

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

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

      SEE ALSO
           mail(1), more(1), news(1)












































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