Back to table of contents
Grant Heinrich, Piers Johnson and Nicholas FitzRoy-Dale
Pine is a email-reading program named after a tree11.1. It's been around for ages,
and for a while it was the only real choice in text-based email readers, but
recently it's got some competition in the form of mutt. Still, Pine
remains popular, at least partially because it's so beginner-friendly.
By the time you get to Pine, there's a good chance that there will be a newer
version than the one you see in the screenshots below. That's okay - Pine
doesn't change too much between versions, and the instructions below should
still be helpful to you.
This chapter discusses sending and recieving email using Pine, and gives some
configuration hints to get you started. Pine is available on Faculty of IT
machines, and on the ProgSoc network.
To start Pine type pine at your shell prompt. As a special note for
new students in 2003, if the version of Pine on ProgSoc machines is rather old
(4.2?), try typing /usr/local/wzdd/pine.
This is the main menu :
PINE 4.40 MAIN MENU Folder: INBOX 69 Messages
? HELP - Get help using Pine
C COMPOSE MESSAGE - Compose and send/post a message
I FOLDER INDEX - View messages in current folder
L FOLDER LIST - Select a folder OR news group to view
A ADDRESS BOOK - Update address book
S SETUP - Configure or update Pine
Q QUIT - Exit the Pine program
Copyright 1989-2001. PINE is a trademark of the University of Washington.
[Folder "INBOX" opened with 69 messages]
? Help P PrevCmd R RelNotes
O OTHER CMDS L [ListFldrs] N NextCmd K KBLock
From this page you can see more top-level commands by typing O
(OTHER CMDS):
? Help Q Quit Pine L ListFldrs I Index S Setup # Role
O OTHER CMDS C Compose G GotoFldr J Journal A AddrBook
You can return to the main menu from almost anywhere
in Pine by typing M. Usually, ? displays a relevant help
screen.
Generally, Pine's interface consists of a two-line "command bar" down the
bottom, and the main window above.
Type C for compose in the main menu. Pine displays a screen
like this.11.2
PINE 4.40 COMPOSE MESSAGE Folder: INBOX 11 Messages
To :
Cc :
Attchmnt:
Subject :
----- Message Text -----
^G Get Help ^X Send ^R Rich Hdr ^Y PrvPg/Top ^K Cut Line ^O Postpone
^C Cancel ^D Del Char ^J Attach ^V NxtPg/End ^U UnDel Line^T To AddrBk
The Compose menu is in two parts. The header (the information above
Message~Text) tells Pine where to send the e-mail;
the lines To: Cc: etc are fields, explained
below. The e-mail message is entered below Message~Text.
The receiver's e-mail address goes on the To: line. For other
users on the FIT system, a logname like agnarfle or
hhefner is enough. For users on other networks,
use their complete address (eg, Big_Ted@playschool.TV.au),
or an alias set up by Pine's Address Book (explained
later this chapter).
To e-mail multiple users, separate each name with a comma:
To : agnarfle, progsoc, Big_Ted@playschool.TV.au
You should have something relevant on the subject line. It's
not compulsory, just helpful.
If another user is to receive a copy of the mail but it doesn't concern them
directly, put their username in the Cc: field11.3. You don't
have to do this, but it keeps things neat and amuses the larval bureaucrats.
If you hit the R (Rich header) option, you'll get a much more interesting
series of headers, including a Bcc: header. This stands for "Blind courtesy
copy". Anybody included on a Bcc list won't see others on the Bcc list, and
anybody on the To or Cc lists won't see them either. This is a useful trick if
want to invite people to a large gathering but don't want your idiot friends
replying to the whole list to say "I'LL BE THERE!!!!"11.4 Simply put your own email address in the To field, and
everyone else in the Bcc field.
Header fields can be changed any time before the mail is sent:
for example, you could send it to someone else by changing the
recipent's name.
Put the cursor below Message~Text to enter your e-mail text.
Pine uses the pico editor, which sucks strongly11.5.
(ProgSoc's editor of choice is Vi. See Pine Options for
an explanation how to call Vi from Pine to edit mail.)
When the text and header are complete, use CTRLX to send.
- CTRLX
- Send message.
- CTRLO
- Postpone message: returns you to the main menu
with the current message saved. When you next compose
Pine will ask if you want to complete the postponed letter.
- CTRLC
- Cancel message. You'll be asked to confirm.
A cancelled message is lost forever.11.6 If you think you'll want
to finish it later, use postpone.11.7
- CTRLK
- Delete a line. This also works in the Header --- for example,
it will delete a recipient from the To: line.
- CTRLU
- Undelete lines. Restores the most recently deleted
group of lines --- if you deleted six in a row, they're all
restored.
- CTRLJ
- Justify: takes raggedly formatted paragraphs
and makes them nice. Be careful with this. Pine considers
a paragraph to be any series of lines with a blank line
at either end.
- CTRLR
- Read a file: inserts a file at the current line.
- CTRL_
- Change to the alternate editor. See Defining Vi
As Alternate Editor.
Type I from the main menu to examine your mail index.
Pine will open folder inbox if you haven't changed folders
(see Mail Folders). New mail is always stored in inbox.
My mail index:
PINE 4.40 MAIL INDEX Folder:inbox Message 11 of 11
1 Feb 18 Stephen Boyd Gowin (1,415) Re: ProgSoc: The VPs FYI!
2 Feb 22 A.Wright@uts.edu.a (1,799) Re: clubs and societies (late!)
3 Feb 23 osborn@agouti (1,909) Info
4 Feb 23 Max Hoffmann (3,714) Re: REVIEW: STRICTLY BALLROOM
5 Feb 24 brian (1,756) Re: Tlot Tlot campus mini tour dates
6 Feb 24 Bill Hagarty (6,922)
7 Feb 24 dennis@agouti (1,093) Hi Ho! Hi Ho!
8 Feb 25 Mark Colston (1,083) New Address
9 Feb 25 Stephen Boyd Gowin (763) pine intro
N 10 Feb 26 morgan@agouti (982) PP Meeting
? Help < FldrList P PrevMsg - PrevPage D Delete R Reply
O OTHER CMDS > [ViewMsg] N NextMsg Spc NextPage U Undelete F Forward
There are 10 messages in inbox. Message 10 is prefixed with N,
which means it's new mail --- I haven't read it yet.
In the Index Menu, the cursor keys scroll up and down; SPACE
and - move forward and backward one screen respectively.
Hit return to read the message under the cursor.
- P
- Previous message (the one before this in the index).
- N
- Next message (in the index).
- T
- Take address. Adds the sender's address to your
alias file (explained in the Address Book section).
- W
- Where is? Search for text.
- D
- Marks current message for deletion. Mail is not deleted
until you eXpunge or Quit. (see The Index Menu and
Exiting Pine).
- S
- Saves mail to a folder. (See Folders.) The message
is copied to the new folder; the original copy is marked
for deletion.
- C
- Compose mail. Same as compose from the main menu.
- R
- Reply (see below)
- F
- Forward (see below).
There are three options: Reply, Forward or Compose.
- Reply
- Type R to reply. Pine will prompt
Reply to all recipients? (y/n) [n]:
The default is to reply to the sender only; but you
can choose to reply to every address in the
To: and Cc: lines (all recipients).
You will also be asked
Include original message in Reply? (y/n) [n]:
A yes requests that the current message be copied to
your message text screen, where you can scribble all over it.
It's common practice to distinguish any quoted text (for
example, the message you are scribbling on) by prefacing
each line with a >, like so:
>I am a quoted line.
Pine will do this if requested. (See Reply Styles.)
- Forward
You can re-send e-mail to other users using F for forward.
That option puts you into the Compose menu with a copy
of the mail to be forwarded; all you need do is enter the
forward address.
- Compose
As explained before.
Quoted text can be edited freely --- interject, delete anything you're not
interested in, whatever you want. Correcting spelling and grammar is
impolite; changing the message's meaning is particulary rude11.8. See the previous Chapter on email etiquette for some more
guidelines on how to include quoted text so that people will love you.
The index screen allows you to reply to and forward mail, add addresses
to the address book using T and delete and save mail, as well as
changing folders and composing new mail.
An important index menu option is eXpunge (X). Mail
you tag for deletion is not permanently removed from the index until
you eXpunge or Quit (see Exiting Pine).
When you first use Pine you have a single folder, inbox.
This can be thought of as similar to having a single directory
for your account; eventually, you'll need some form of organisation.
The simplest method is to create
other folders; for instance, all mail from hhefner could
be kept in the hhefner folder. Folders are created by saving mail
(see Mail Reading Options) to a new folder name.
Folders are stored in your local
directory Mail (~yourusername/Mail).
To change folders,
use G (Go to folder --- this option works while reading mail and
from the Index Menu).
If you know the folder name, type it in. If you can't remember,
or get some kind of sick thrill each time you see your folder list,
CTRLT lists all folders: select one with the cursor. Pine places you in the index menu again, which works the same way for all folders.
When you want to read any new mail, change folders back to your inbox.
All messages you send are saved to the folder sent-mail. You should
expunge this regularly (either saving messages to other folders, or
deleting them), or it becomes impractically large to look through.
You must specify a complete address to send mail outside the FIT network,
such as:
Big_Ted@playschool.TV.au.
(Mail addressing is explained in Email: the Concept.)
Big Ted's address is a bugger to type repeatedly.
Pine saves your typing fingers by keeping an address book.
From the main menu, type A. You'll see this:
PINE 4.40 ADDRESS BOOK Folder:inbox Message 10 of 10
bigted BIG TED! Big_Ted@playschool.TV.au
jemimah Jemimah the Raggedy doll Jemimah@playschool.TV.au
smart Mr Smart smart@cleverland.mr.men.com.uk
johnboy Johnboy Walton johnboy_walton@mountain.com
camille Camille Pagalia (More porn!) camille@random.house.com.org
mymailer All my imaginary friends DISTRIBUTION LIST:
bigted
camille
jemimah
johnboy
smart
? Help < Main Menu P PrevEntry - PrevPage @ AddNew C ComposeTo
O OTHER CMDS > [View/Update] N NextEntry Spc NextPage D Delete W WhereIs
Or you would if all your friends were Mr Men, Playschool characters
and contentious feminists. Your address book should be empty. The line
bigted BIG TED! Big_Ted@playschool.TV.au
is an alias for Big Ted, whose email address is Big_Ted@playschool.TV.au.
To send mail to Big Ted, I put bigted --- his alias --- in
the To: field. Pine expands this as
To : BIG TED!
From the main menu, type A for the Address Book menu.
From there, @ adds a new alias.
You'll be prompted for the
receiver's full name (BIG TED! in this case, although
My Little Furry Friend or pretty much anything else is acceptable.
Be warned that Pine tags your name for this person onto any mail
you send them).
Pine also asks for a nickname --- this is the
alias used in the To: field.
It must be one word; being succinct helps.
Then enter their complete e-mail address. Pine stores addresses in
alphabetical order by full name.
To create an alias for your friend Brian at bwahwah@office.com.au
Nickname : brian
Fullname : Wah-Wah, Brian
Fcc :
Comment :
Addresses : bwahwah@office.com.au
The mysterious Fcc field stands for "File Carbon Copy". If your messages
to Brian are so important that they should be saved in their own file, you can
specify that file here.
The new line in the address book will read:
brian Wah-Wah, Brian bwahwah@office.com.au
You can edit aliases using >, delete them with D;
other options are listed at the bottom of the Address Book Menu.
To send mail to Brian and Big Ted, enter their aliases on the To:
line:
To : brian, bigted
Pine expands this to:
To : BIG TED ,
Wah-Wah, Brian
While reading mail, or while in the index screen, the Take
Address command (T) creates an alias for the sender
of the current mail. (You have to specify their nickname
and sometimes the full name; Pine usually only copies the e-mail
address to the address book. The full name will be whatever alias the
sender has given themselves, if there is one11.9.)
Nicknames can can only be added one at a time ---
you'll have to use T multiple times for multiple names.
Pine can also create distribution lists, which are lists of people
referenced by one nickname. Any mail sent to that nickname will be
received by all parties. Here is an example
mymailer All my imaginary friends DISTRIBUTION LIST:
bigted
camille
jemimah
johnboy
smart
(The nicknames on the right hand side have already been defined
in my address book, but a complete address such as Big_Ted@playschool.TV.au is also valid.)
When I put mymailer in the To: field of e-mail,
Pine expands it to:
To : All my imaginary friends -- BIG TED! ,
Jemimah the Raggedy doll ,
Mr Smart ,
Johnboy Walton ,
Camille Pagalia (More porn!)
The mail goes to Big Ted, Camille Pagalia, Jemimah, Johnboy
Walton and Mr Smart11.10. All my imaginary friends is
the list description (name) defined in the Address Book; like
a full name, it could by any name you want.
Note: addresses can be removed from To: using CTRLK for delete.
(If a particular message about bear trapping, for instance, was too
heartbreaking, Big Ted could be removed from the To: line to
protect his innocence.)
S creates a new list in the Address Book Menu.
You'll be asked for a list description, a nickname to refer
to the list, and the aliases or addresses of each member.
Press RETURN twice when finished.
You can add new people to an already created list:
place the cursor within the list and type Z. Pine will ask
for the person's alias. It will keep on asking for names until you just
hit RETURN without any name. Names can either be predefined nicknames
or full addresses. If you use a short name that isn't a nickname, the
user-domain field will be added to it.11.11
Q for quit works from most screens. Pine will ask
you to confirm, and if you want to expunge the current
folder; if so, Pine destroys all messages marked for deletion. Other times you might have to press < first.
When you first run Pine , it writes a file to your home directory
called .pinerc. Playing with .pinerc changes your Pine defaults: the alternate editor, your .signature file and
other bits and pieces you can work out yourselves.
.pinerc changes take effect the next time you use
Pine after saving .pinerc --- try exiting and
restarting. Use Vi to edit .pinerc.
A .sig (pronounced ``dot sig'') is a text file appended to every piece of mail
you send. They usually include your name, an email address and sometimes
business or home phone numbers, fax numbers, addresses, etc. They sometimes
include quotes that only the sender finds funny11.12. A .sig
file is traditionally named .signature, and kept in your home
directory. Here is an example .sig.
-- Hugh Hefner ( hhefner@playboy.mansion.com )
Gimmie some sugar, baby!
(See? That quote isn't funny if you don't know which film it's from ---
and dubiously so if you do.)
It is best to keep a .sig short; otherwise, people
will assume you're a wanker.
Pine will automatically include your signature file in email messages if a file called .signature is present in your home directory. If you've decided to be different for no good reason and have your signature file named something other than .signature, Pine can be told to use that file too - see below.
Unlike other, more sensible mail systems, Pine places the .signature at
the beginning of your mail, not the end. Fortunately, there is a configuration
option to reinstate this behaviour - it's called "signature-at-bottom". Learn
how to configure it in the next section. :-)
Pine's setup mechanism has been incorporated into the application
itself. In the old days, you had to do everything in the .pinerc
file, but with Pine 4.40, much of that functionality
is a few keystrokes away, so you don't need to edit .pinerc at all, unless you're feeling particularly masochistic11.13. Access this by typing S (as listed in
Pine's opening screen/main menu). The bottom of the screen will change to:
? Help E Exit Setup N Newpassword S Signature L collectionLi D Directory
O OTHER CMDS P Printer C Config A AddressBook R Rules K Kolor
Typing CTRLG to get help will give you this simple message:
Select one of the setup tasks by typing the capitalised letter.
The N --- New Password option is the same as typing passwd at your
UNIX prompt. The screen will look a bit like this:
PINE 4.40 MAIN MENU Folder: INBOX 69 Messages
Changing password for piers.
Old password:
New password:
Retype new password:
The P --- Printer option allows one to choose which type of printer to use.
It's a single screen of information, which is irrelevant because YOU ARE
NOT ALLOWED TO PRINT MAIL.
The C --- Config option is a replacement for the old
.pinerc setup procedure. Type C and you'll see this:
personal-name = Ol' BT
user-domain =
smtp-server =
nntp-server =
inbox-path =
incoming-archive-folders =
pruned-folders =
default-fcc =
default-saved-msg-folder =
postponed-folder =
read-message-folder =
form-letter-folder =
literal-signature =
signature-file =
feature-list =
Set Feature Name
--- ----------------------
[ Composer Preferences ]
[ ] alternate-compose-menu
? Help E Exit Setup P Prev - PrevPage A Add Value % Print
C [Change Val] N Next Spc NextPage D Delete Val W WhereIs
This is the first screen of the setup, there's a lot more to come yet. One of
the best things about Pine, though, is that each of these options are
exquisitely well-documented. To get documentation for a particular option, press
"?" while that option is highlighted. When you're done, hit E.
I'll go through a couple of the more useful configuration options.
personal-name is an alias for yourself, similar to those you use for
other people in the address book, and your full e-mail address will follow your
alias in the headers of any mail you send. (e.g. From: Ol' BT
<piersprogsoc.uts.edu.au> ) The user-domain field is the default
location for user names for outgoing mail. For instance, with the above
configuration, if you just type piers in the To: field, the text
@it.uts.edu.au will automatically be appended when you hit return. If you
have specified a domain (i.e. used @some.machine), the text will not be
appended. Don't change this! It saves time when sending mail to other people at
FIT. The smtp-server and nntp-server fields also shouldn't be
changed, as they're the defaults for FIT. If you wish to have your inbox folder
located somewhere strange, you can set this with the inbox-path field.
Pine has a frustrating habit of hiding functionality from people behind
configuration options. For example, to use an alternate editor, such as vi, you'd hit CTRL_. But that doesn't actually work until you enable the
"enable-alternate-editor-cmd" option in Pine setup.
Other useful configuration options to add are enable-sigdashes which
tells Pine to follow a de facto standard for .sig files, reply-always-uses-reply-to which needs no explanation and is probably what you
want, signature-at-bottom which discourages top posting (see the etiquette
section), probably all the options in Viewer Preferences relating to
attachments and probably most of the Advanced Command Preferences (Once again,
these don't actually force you to do anything "Advanced" - they merely ensure
that the menu option is there should you wish to use them).
There are a number of other cute options that change your xterm icon if
you've got new mail, and that ensure that you move onto the next message when
you delete the one you're currently viewing, that I will leave for you to find.
Folder Collections
One of the more useful configuration options is that of folder collections. These
The most useful option on this screen is the folder-collections field.
With this, you may specify mail located on other machines, such as ftoomsh
and ghostgum so that you can read that mail without having to log into
that machine11.14.
Mine is listed as:
folder-collections = Mail/[]
{ftoomsh}Mail/[]
The first line is on the local machine (in this case, lucy), and the
second line allows me to access my mail on ftoomsh. The server name goes
in braces, followed by the directory in which your mail is held (normally Mail).
This must be followed by /[ ], which allows all the mail folders
within your mail directory to be read11.15.
Note that when adding folders, you should use A for Add Value, not C
for Change Value, otherwise you won't be able to read your local mail. Once you
have added other servers, you will be able to access them through L
(Folder List). When you select a remote machine, you will be prompted for your
login and password on that machine, even if you have an .rhosts file.
It will look something like this:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
News-collection (Remote)
HOST: ftoomsh ENTER LOGIN NAME: kaleid
^G Help
^C Cancel Ret Accept
The rest of this screen is self explanatory, with the exception of three
fields. The signature-file and address-book fields are useful, but
don't really need to be changed. The feature-list starts on the first
page, but continues for another two pages (see below).
When you have moved down into the feature list, the commands available change
as the next page shows:
PINE 4.40 SETUP CONFIGURATION Folder: INBOX 69 Messages
[ ] auto-open-next-unread
[ ] compose-sets-newsgroup-without-confirm
[ ] delete-skips-deleted
[ ] enable-aggregate-command-set
[X] enable-alternate-editor-cmd
[ ] enable-alternate-editor-implicitly
[X] enable-bounce-cmd
[ ] enable-flag-cmd
[X] enable-full-header-cmd
[ ] enable-incoming-folders
[X] enable-jump-shortcut
[ ] enable-mail-check-cue
[ ] enable-suspend
[ ] enable-tab-completion
[X] enable-unix-pipe-cmd
[ ] expanded-view-of-addressbooks
[ ] expanded-view-of-folders
[ ] expunge-without-confirm
[ ] include-attachments-in-reply
? Help E Exit Config P Prev - PrevPage
X [Set/Unset] N Next Spc NextPage W WhereIs
enable-suspend allows one to use CTRLZ while reading mail with
Pine. All the feature list options on the previous two pages, and the
next, can be set by typing X when the option to be changed is highlighted.
This is in contrast to the options which by default have <No Value Set>;
these are changed by the C or A options (see the first page, above).
Options for some sections are set using S for select (as in
fcc-name-rule, etc.) The appropriate commands are shown on the bottom
two lines as you move down the list.
I think most of the options in the feature list are self-explanatory11.16. I prefer to have my signature at the bottom of my mail (who
doesn't?), so I've marked that box.
PINE 3.90 SETUP CONFIGURATION Folder: INBOX 69 Messages
[ ] include-header-in-reply
[ ] include-text-in-reply
[ ] news-post-without-validation
[ ] news-read-in-newsrc-order
[ ] quit-without-confirm
[ ] save-will-quote-leading-froms
[ ] save-will-not-delete
[ ] save-will-advance
[ ] select-without-confirm
[ ] show-selected-in-boldface
[X] signature-at-bottom
[ ] use-current-dir
[ ] user-lookup-even-if-domain-mismatch
initial-keystroke-list =
default-composer-hdrs =
customized-hdrs =
saved-msg-name-rule =
Set Rule Values
--- ----------------------
? Help E Exit Config P Prev - PrevPage
X [Set/Unset] N Next Spc NextPage W WhereIs
The options that follow under a Set heading use the S for Select
command.
PINE 3.90 SETUP CONFIGURATION Folder: INBOX 69 Messages
( ) by-sender
(*) by-from
( ) by-recipient
( ) last-folder-used
( ) default-folder
fcc-name-rule =
Set Rule Values
--- ----------------------
( ) by-recipient
( ) last-fcc-used
(*) default-fcc
sort-key =
Set Sort Options
--- ----------------------
( ) Date
(*) Arrival
( ) From
( ) Subject
( ) OrderedSubj
? Help E Exit Config P Prev - PrevPage
S [Select] N Next Spc NextPage W WhereIs
Some explanatory notes here. saved-msg-name-rule is how mail in any of
your saved message folders are headed; fcc-name-rule is how copies of mail in
your sent mail folder are headed; sort-key is how mail in your inbox is
arranged; addrbook-sort-rule is how your, er..., address book is ordered.
Easy, hein?
PINE 3.90 SETUP CONFIGURATION Folder: INBOX 69 Messages
( ) Reverse Date
( ) Reverse Arrival
( ) Reverse From
( ) Reverse Subject
( ) Reverse OrderedSubj
addrbook-sort-rule =
Set Rule Values
--- ----------------------
( ) fullname-with-lists-last
( ) fullname
(*) nickname-with-lists-last
( ) nickname
( ) dont-sort
character-set =
editor =
image-viewer =
use-only-domain-name = Yes
? Help E Exit Config P Prev - PrevPage
S [Select] N Next Spc NextPage W WhereIs
This is the last page (whew!). Much of the same here --- sorting for folders and
the address book, as well as options for changing external applications. If
you change these, make sure the paths are correct, or you'll get error
messages when you try and do things. Also, if you use a different editor, make
sure the enable-alternate-editor-cmd option is set (it's listed on the
second page of the feature list). There's also an
enable-alternate-editor-implicitly option, which I prefer not to set
by default --- Pico is fine for ordinary spontaneous typing as one employs
when writing mail, I only use my alternate editor (vi, the default
choice) for certain things.
The old way of configuring pine was by using your .pinerc file. Pine
still uses this approach (a bit); look at the end of this chapter for
more information on this daunting approach to configuring Pine.
The folder collections in Pine have changed their appearance somewhat
recently. Earlier versions defaulted to showing you all of your folders,
on all of your machines (local or remote) in the expanded format. Now,
Pine is a bit more compact, and L will show you a screen
something like this:
PINE 3.90 FOLDER LIST Folder: INBOX 69 Messages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incoming Message Folders
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INBOX {ftoomsh}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-collection ** Default for Saves ** (Local)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Select Here to See Expanded List ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-collection (Remote)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Select Here to See Expanded List ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
? Help M Main Menu P PrevFldr - PrevPage D Delete R Rename
O OTHER CMDS V [ViewFldr] N NextFldr Spc NextPage A Add
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
News-collection (Remote)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ Select Here to See Expanded List ]
...
These screens show all your Mail collections (and news collections) on any
machines you specified in the folder-collections field, covered above
under Config. This field does not include the Incoming message folders.
You have to set this up yourself by using the Add option with the cursor
higlighting something in the top section (your INBOX would be good). You
would then type the name of the remote server. An alternative approach would be
to edit your .pinerc file. Find the line incoming-folders= and
add {ftoomsh} to it.
If you have set the feature expanded-view-of-folders in
your configuration11.17 then you will have something approaching the old folder list. If you
have this set, and use remote machines then you will have to supply a login
and password for all of those machines whenever you use Pine. Personally,
I don't think it's worth doing. Having this flag set, or highlighting a section
and pressing return will show something like this:
PINE 3.90 FOLDER LIST Folder: INBOX 69 Messages
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incoming Message Folders
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INBOX {ftoomsh}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folder-collection ** Default for Saves ** (Local)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sent-mail 3308sric TADS TFM
ag298 anagrams android bong
bongfool bywong chrisf chromium
cwchoy greenland funny goaway
iching jeremy jerome jhomer
jimmy kevin leroy lists
morag mouser niall piers
postponed-mail progsoc sbg sent-mail-apr-1995
sent-mail-aug-1994 sent-mail-dec-1994 sent-mail-feb-1995 sent-mail-jan-1995
[Now in collection ]
? Help M Main Menu P PrevFldr - PrevPage D Delete R Rename
O OTHER CMDS V [ViewFldr] N NextFldr Spc NextPage A Add
The old way of configuring pine was by using your .pinerc file. Pine still
uses this approach; but the internal reconfiguration scheme is much easier
to use. You might need to use this if you can't run Pine because of what
you've done to your configuration. It looks something like this:
# Pine configuration file -- customize as needed.
########################### Essential Parameters ###########################
# Over-rides your full name from Unix password file. Required for PC-Pine.
personal-name=
# Sets domain part of From: and local addresses in outgoing mail.
user-domain=
# List of SMTP servers for sending mail. If blank: Unix Pine uses sendmail.
smtp-server=
# NNTP server for posting news. Also sets news-collections for news reading.
nntp-server=
# Path of (local or remote) INBOX, e.g. ={mail.somewhere.edu}inbox
# Normal Unix default is the local INBOX (usually /usr/spool/mail/$USER).
inbox-path=
\end{verbatim}}
And so on.
As you can see, the .pinerc more or less replicates the functionality of
the Pine setup/config options11.18, except that
you have to know the names of the features. To be frank, the easiest way to
recover from any fatal Pine misconfigurations is simply to delete the .pinerc
file from your home directory. It will be re-created (without, of course, any of
your custom settings) next time you start Pine.
Back to table of contents