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Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10
Larry Campbell
Internal Software Support Group (DIS/ISSG)
This document reflects DECmail/MS version 10(2123)
October, 1982
1.0 SUMMARY
DECmail/MS is a product which provides TOPS-10 and TOPS-20
users with a sophisticated and flexible electronic messaging capa-
bility (such capabilities are frequently called "electronic mail").
DECmail/MS is the generic name for a software package which includes
the program MS along with some ancillary modules which together pro-
vide a comprehensive multinode mail service (and, in the future,
will provide gateways to other electronic mail systems).
This document describes version 10 of DECmail/MS. This is the
first version to appear as a supported, unbundled product of the
Large Systems Product Line. Earlier versions were developed on an
unfunded basis, largely as a hobby for the developer. DECmail/MS
originated from a similar program developed at SRI International
called MM; the two programs diverged very early on, and today dis-
play only superficial similarities.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 2
2.0 SUMMARY OF COMPONENTS AND ENVIRONMENT
2.1 Undistributed Components
The DECmail/MS documentation may occasionally refer to some
software components which are not distributed with the official
DECmail/MS tape. These components are EMACS, and VMAIL/VMAILR.
2.1.1 EMACS -
EMACS is an extremely powerful and sophisticated editor, built
at MIT on top of a sophisticated variant of TECO known as ITSTECO.
DECmail/MS has facilities which provide a convenient interface
between DECmail/MS and EMACS.
EMACS is distributed only by MIT, and supported only at their
convenience. Digital neither distributes nor supports EMACS. In
the opinion of this author, though, it is the best editor in
existence today and well worth getting a copy.
2.1.2 VMAIL/VMAILR -
VMAIL and VMAILR are two programs, analagous to NMAIL and
DMAILR (see section 2.4.2.1.1), which provide DECmail/MS users with
the ability to exchange messages with users of VAXmail, the unsup-
ported (and primitive) mail utility which comes with VAX/VMS. These
components are being used internally at DEC while we develop the
real solution to cross-systems mail connectivity. At the present
time, we prefer not to distribute this interim solution, but rather
to concentrate on providing the "correct" and globally acceptable
solution to this problem. Distributing interim hacks runs the risk
of diluting this effort.
2.2 Prerequisite Software
DECmail/MS version 10 runs under TOPS-10, version 7.01 or
later, and under TOPS-20, Release 4 or later. It will run on
KS-10/20 or KL-10/20 processors; it will NOT run on KA-10 or KI-10
processors, and it will NOT run under the TENEX or ITS operating
systems.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 3
Incompatible changes between versions 4A and 10
3.0 INCOMPATIBLE CHANGES BETWEEN VERSIONS 4A AND 10
(This section is provided for those TOPS-20 sites who may have
obtained a copy of MS version 4A. Since version 10 is the first
version of MS to run under TOPS-10, this section is naturally of
little interest to TOPS-10 users, who will probably wish to skip
it.)
. The command SHOW HEADERS has been removed.
. The command RESTORE-DRAFT has been replaced by RETRIEVE
DRAFT (note the change from a hyphenated command to a
two-word command).
. The SAVE-OUTGOING-MESSAGES command has been replaced by
SAVE OUTGOING-MESSAGES (note the change from a hyphenated
command to a two-word command).
. The HEADERS command has been renamed SUMMARIZE.
. The LIST command has been renamed PRINT.
. The SET HEADERS-PERSONAL-NAME-ONLY command has been renamed
SET SUMMARY-PERSONAL-NAME-ONLY.
. The SET HEADERS-ON-PRINTER-OUTPUT command has been renamed
SET SUMMARY-ON-PRINTER-OUTPUT.
. In the output from the SUMMARIZE command, the "From" and
"Subject" fields are now separated by vertical bar "|" in-
stead of space. This makes the truncation of long "From"
fields look less like a bug.
. Version 4 of MS will not be able to reply to mail sent by
version 10 if the address-list feature was used to send the
mail.
. The command LOGOUT-ON-EXIT has been replaced by SET
LOGOUT-ON-EXIT.
. The name of the "In-reply-to" field has been changed to
"Regarding".
. The SET SHOW-TO-IN-HEADERS-COMMAND has been removed. It is
no longer needed, as its purpose is well served by the new
functionality described in section 5.4 of this document.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 4
Features added between versions 4A and 10
4.0 FEATURES ADDED BETWEEN VERSIONS 4A AND 10
4.1 Pass-through Support
In conjunction with version 10 of DMAILR, the DECNET mail un-
spooler, you can now send mail to DECNET hosts which are not in your
local DECNET (in DECNET Phase II this means nonadjacent hosts).
DMAILR uses the pass-through service (object type 123 decimal) to do
this. The only change required to MS itself was to accept the new
host table format (PS:<SYSTEM>DECNET-HOSTS.TXT) which now includes
routing information; most of the functionality for this resides in
DMAILR.
4.2 SET SUPPRESSED-HEADERS
This command allows you to specify a list of headers whose dis-
play you wish suppressed while MS is displaying a message. This
command and the SET ONLY-HEADERS-SHOWN command are mutually
exclusive; if both are given, the SET ONLY-HEADERS-SHOWN command
rules.
4.3 Improved SEND Command
The SEND command may now be followed on the same line by a list
of addresses, which will go into the "To" list. If you use this
flavor of SEND, MS will not prompt for a "cc" list, on the
assumption that you are trying to send a message quickly. This
means that the following type of EXEC command will now work:
@MS SEND LCAMPBELL
Note that if MS is given a command on the EXEC command line
which invoked MS (as in the above example), it will not bother to
read and parse your MAIL.TXT unless the command you gave it (or a
command in your init file) references your mail. This means that,
with a very large mail file,
@MS SEND LCAMPBELL
will be considerably faster than
@MS
MS>SEND
To: LCAMPBELL
since, in the second case, MS must read and parse your entire mail
file.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 5
Features added between versions 4A and 10
4.4 Improved SUMMARIZE (formerly HEADERS) Command
The output from the SUMMARIZE command has been improved. If a
message being listed by the SUMMARIZE command was sent by you (the
user running MS), then instead of displaying the "From" field of the
message in the third column, MS will display the "To" field, pre-
ceded by the word "To". For example, consider the following summary
output from MS version 4:
MS>SUMMARIZE 1:4
1 20-Sep LCAMPBELL This msg is from me (268 chars)
2 20-Sep GRANT This msg is from GRANT (255 chars)
3 20-Sep MILLER This msg is from MILLER (312 chars)
4 20-Sep LCAMPBELL This message is from me (300 chars)
MS>
Version 10 of MS would display the summary like this:
MS>SUMMARIZE 1:4
1 20-Sep To: GRANT |This msg is from me (268 chars)
2 20-Sep GRANT |This msg is from GRANT (255 chars)
3 20-Sep MILLER |This msg is from MILLER (312 chars)
4 20-Sep To: OSMAN, MURPHY, HA|This msg is from me (300 chars)
MS>
The messages marked with "To:" were sent by the current user
(LCAMPBELL) and the field displayed is the "To" field, not the
"From" field. Message number 4 illustrates the case where the "To"
field contains more than one name.
This feature, when used in conjunction with the command
SAVE-OUTGOING-MESSAGES (IN FILE) MAIL.TXT (so that messages you send
are filed in your message file) is particularly helpful in keeping
records of mail conversations. You can keep both incoming and out-
going mail in the same file, and by scanning for the word "To:"
before user names, can quickly see which messages are incoming and
which are outgoing. Since replies generated automatically by the
REPLY command have the same subject string as the original message,
it is easy to collect all messages pertaining to a given conver-
sation together.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 6
Features added between versions 4A and 10
4.5 SET TEXT-SCROLL-REGION
There is a new display option which can be activated with the
SET TEXT-SCROLL-REGION command. When reading messages with this
option activated, only the message text portion of the message will
be scrolled. The header area will remain on the screen without
moving for easy reference. If the header area is too large, though,
this is annoying, as your text scrolls through an excessively small
window. Thus, if the header area is "too big", MS will scroll the
entire screen. "Too big" currently means that fewer than eight
lines would be left in which to display the message after displaying
the headers. You can change this parameter by giving the SET
TEXT-SCROLL-REGION command with a numeric argument.
4.6 Video Display Now Optional
A new command, SET NO VIDEO-MODE, disables all video display
handling, such as clearing the screen and setting scroll regions.
The default is SET VIDEO-MODE.
The SET VIDEO-MODE command has a useful side effect. It forces
MS to reinitialize all its knowledge of your terminal parameters.
Thus, if you detach from a job running MS and later attach to it
with a different terminal, if you give the monitor command:
TERMINAL <terminal-type>
then continue MS and give MS the SET [NO] VIDEO-MODE command, MS
will be able to continue to do its video display properly because it
now knows that you've changed terminal types.
4.7 Support For New Local Mailer (MAILEX)
The old local mailer, MAILER, is being replaced by an improved
version called MAILEX. MS supports both mailers, but if MAILEX
exists on a system MS uses it. MAILEX provides the following
advantages over MAILER:
. Personal names now go in the "From" field, just as with
network mail, and not in a separate "From-the-terminal-of"
line.
. In messages addressed to both local recipients and
recipients on foreign hosts, all local mail is delivered
locally. Previously it all had to go via the network
mailers.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 7
Features added between versions 4A and 10
4.8 User-defined Header Items
A "header-item" is a keyword known to MS which serves to iden-
tify a specific piece of information in the header area of a mes-
sage. A header-item consists of an alphanumeric string, which is
the name of the header-item, a colon, and some text which is the
data associated with the header-item. The "To" field is an example
of a header-item which has addresses in its data field.
MS has seven header-items wired into it: Date, To, cc, From,
Subject, Reply-to, and In-reply-to. The DEFINE HEADER-ITEM command
allows users to define their own, new header items.
Header-items come in three flavors: optional, required, or
predefined. An optional header-item is one which MS will not prompt
for when sending, but which may be entered by giving the send-level
command INCLUDE. A required header-item is one which MS will prompt
you for, and require that you supply before allowing you to send the
message. A predefined header-item is one which you've supplied in
the DEFINE command, and will be inserted into the message automatic-
ally.
Here is an example of a user defining the header-item
"Telephone" as a predefined header-item containing his telephone
number:
MS>define header-item Telephone predefined text-string 223-8457
There are currently six types of header-items which may be de-
fined: addresses, dates, date-times, times, text strings, and key-
words. The syntax required to define a header-item is:
define header-item <name> <flavor> <type> <optional-value>
<name> := any alphanumeric string
<flavor> := optional | predefined | required
<type> := date | date-and-time | time | address | text-string | keyword
<optional-value> := value of predefined header-item, or list of
keywords for keyword header-items
To delete the definition of a header-item, give the command
DEFINE HEADER-ITEM <name> with no arguments. To delete all
header-item definitions, give the command DEFINE HEADER-ITEM * (this
is similar to the EXEC's DEFINE command).
The SHOW HEADER-ITEMS command will display all currently de-
fined header-items (except, of course, for those seven wired in to
MS). The INCLUDE command is used at send level to include a
header-item which has been declared optional. The ERASE HEADER-ITEM
command may be used at send level to erase a header-item from the
current draft.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 8
Features added between versions 4A and 10
4.9 Aliases
Users may define aliases for frequently-used addresses with the
DEFINE ALIAS command. The syntax is as follows:
MS>define alias foo (to be) Long-unwieldy-name at 1031
MS>send
To: foo
cc:
Subject: Hi there
Message:
Just testing...
^Z
As with all other commands, the DEFINE command may appear in
your MS.INIT file. To delete an alias, just define it with a null
address (much like the EXEC's DEFINE command). The command DEFINE
ALIAS * will remove all alias definitions.
An alias may consist of either a single address, or a list of
addresses separated by commas. The command SHOW ALIASES will dis-
play a list of all currently defined aliases and their expansions.
4.10 Address Lists
You may define address lists with the DEFINE ADDRESS-LIST com-
mand. This works almost exactly like DEFINE ALIAS, with one excep-
tion: The name of the list is shown in the mail you send. For
example:
MS>define address-list Small-group (to be) Smith, Jones, Chuck
MS>define address-list Whole-group (to be) Small-group, Fred, Joe
Now, sending mail to "small-group" will produce the following "To"
field:
To: Small-group: Smith, Jones, Chuck;
and sending mail to "whole-group" will produce the following "To"
field:
To: Whole-group: Small-group: Smith, Jones, Chuck;, Fred, Joe;
To delete an address-list definition, give the command DEFINE
ADDRESS-LIST <name> with no argument. To delete all address-list
definitions, give the command DEFINE ADDRESS-LIST *.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 9
Features added between versions 4A and 10
4.11 SET BRIEF-ADDRESS-LIST-DISPLAY
This command causes MS to only display the outermost name of
any address list in the "To" or "cc" fields of messages being dis-
played. This command may be temporarily overridden with the
VERBOSE-TYPE command, much like the SET ONLY-HEADERS-SHOWN command.
4.12 RETRIEVE LAST-MESSAGE
It sometimes happens that you send a message, MS transmits it
successfully, and then you realize belatedly that something was
amiss; perhaps you forgot to include someone in the address lists.
The RETRIEVE LAST-MESSAGE command retrieves a copy of the last mes-
sage successfully sent and places you at send level, so that you can
correct the problem and try again.
4.13 Host Synonyms (applicable Only To DECNET Systems)
System administrators may elect to provide synonyms for hosts
by altering the DECNET-HOSTS.TXT file on SYSTEM:. To define a
synonym, enter the synonym name, and equals sign (), and the "real"
host name. The real name must already have been defined. For
example, to define the synonym "Gus" for host KL2137,
SYSTEM:DECNET-HOSTS.TXT would contain:
KL2137
Gus=KL2137
For more information in the format of SYSTEM:DECNET-HOSTS.TXT,
refer to the section titled "Installation Instructions".
4.14 System MS.INIT
If SYSTEM: contains an MS.INIT, the commands in it will be
processed by MS upon startup if the user does not have a private
MS.INIT. This is especially useful for defining system-wide
aliases, address-lists, and header-items.
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 10
Features added between versions 4A and 10
4.15 New Message-sequence Selectors
The way you specify a message or messages to MS is by using a
construct called a "message sequence". This can be a list of mes-
sage numbers, or a phrase describing a group of messages by content
(e.g., "from smith", "since April 1"). MS version 10 has several
additional facilities for constructing message sequences.
4.15.1 Select Based On Keywords In The Message -
You can now specify message sequences based on keywords within
the text of the message by saying KEYWORD <text>. For instance, to
read all messages containing the word "foobat", you would say:
MS>read keyword foobat
4.15.2 Sort Based On Date And Time -
The message sequence SORTED (BY) DATE-TIME selects messages in
ascending date-time order.
4.15.3 Mixed Numbers And Keywords -
Previously, if you specified any message numbers explicitly in
a message sequence, you were restricted to only numbers and could
not specify any keywords on the same line. Now you can form message
sequences like:
MS>read 1,5,12:14,flagged
4.15.4 First N Messages - -
You can also select the first n messages by saying:
MS>read first n
Release Notes for DECmail/MS version 10 Page 11
Features added between versions 4A and 10
4.16 Nested Command Files
Command files and init files may now be nested. This means
that you may use the TAKE command inside an init file, or a command
file used by the TAKE command.
4.17 Multiword Usernames
MS will now properly handle usernames composed of multiple
words. Of course, this is not particularly relevant to TOPS-20
users since TOPS-20 does not allow spaces in usernames. It is
useful, though, when sending messages to other systems (such as
MULTICS) which do allow spaces in usernames.
4.18 Extended Host Specifications (path Specs)
An "extended host specification" has the form:
HOST1 at HOST2 at HOST3
These are used either to describe a path in a store-and-forward
messaging environment, or to describe a path which crosses gateways.
MS now supports extended host specifications in the following
manner:
1. If you wish to reply to a message whose "From:" field con-
tains an extended host spec, the REPLY command works. No
special actions are required.
2. Because MS validates hostnames (to allow recognition and to
prevent spelling errors), and because making the names of
all hosts in the world available to MS for validation is
impractical, the following restriction exists when typing
in an extended host spec: the entire address, EXCEPT for
the last hostname and the word "at" immediately preceding
it, must be enclosed in double quotes. For example:
To: "Fred Smith at MULTICS-HOST at ARPA-GATEWAY" at MARKET
MS will remove the quotes before sending the mail, but you
must type them to prevent the command scanner from trying
to parse MULTICS-HOST (which MS's host table has most
likely never heard of).
[End of MS.DOC]