About Pine

Pine is a sophisticated yet easy-to-use electronic mail program that was created at the University of Washington with the specific goal of being responsive to new electronic mail users.

Pine offers:

• On-Screen Menus and Messages: Pine displays your options in menus at the bottom of each screen, so you do not need to memorize commands. On-screen messages appear on a line above the command menu to give you warnings or information as you make a choice.
• On-line Help: Help is instantly available to provide information about the task you are performing.

Starting and Quitting Pine

To start Pine, just type in the command pine at your mail prompt. After starting Pine, the Main Menu screen appears. Each Pine screen has a similar layout: the top line tells you the screen name and additional useful information, below that is the work area (on the Main Menu screen, the work area is a menu of options), then the message/prompt line, and finally the menu of commands.

To quit: When you want to leave Pine, type Q (Quit). For details, see "Quitting Pine and Logging Out."

The Main Menu

The Main Menu lists Pine's main options (Figure 1). The letter you must type to enter your choice is to the left of each option or command name. You can usually type either uppercase or lowercase letters, and you should not press <RETURN> to enter commands. From the Main Menu, you can read on-line help, write and send a message, look at an index of your mail messages, open or maintain your mail folders, update your address book, configure or update Pine, and quit Pine. Now that you know how to start Pine, you can explore on your own, or you can browse the rest of this document for a summary of Pine's main features.

Getting Help in Pine

To read the on-line help, use the Help command at the bottom of each screen. For example, at the Main Menu screen, type ? (Help). Because the help text is context sensitive, you never see all of it at once-only the part that relates to the Pine feature you are using. To exit the on-line help, type E (Exit Help).

Figure 1: A Pine Main Menu Screen

Writing a Message in Pine

To write a message, type C (Compose) to see the Compose Message screen (Figure 2). In the command menu above, the ^ character is used to indicate the Control key. This means you must hold down the Control key (written in this document as <CONTROL>) while you press the letter for each command. Press <CONTROL>G (Get Help) to see additional commands. To move around, use the arrow keys or <CONTROL>N (Next line) and <CONTROL>P (Previous line). To correct errors, use <BACKSPACE> or <DELETE>. You might start experimenting in Pine by sending yourself a message. The following section shows you how.

Writing and Sending a Test Message to Yourself

To write and send a test message to yourself:

• 1. Type C (Compose) to see the Compose Message screen.
• 2. In the To: field, type your electronic mail address and press <RETURN>.
• 3. In the Cc: field, press <RETURN>.
• 4. In the Attachment: field, press <RETURN>.
• 5. In the Subject: field, type "Test" and press <RETURN>.
• 6. Below the Message Text line, type "This is a test."
• 7. To send your message, press <CONTROL>X (Send).
• 8. You are asked:

Send message?

Type y (yes) or press <RETURN>.

If a user Jean Hughes at site art.somewhere.edu whose userid is jhughes were to compose such a test message, the completed screen would look like the example in Figure 3.

Figure 2: A Pine Compose Message Screen

The message is sent, and a copy is saved to your sent-mail folder. (If you type n (no) the message is not sent, and you can continue to work on it.)

This test message is very simple. There are, of course, other options you can use as you compose a message. A few are summarized in the next section, and complete information about options for the Compose Message screen is available in on-line help. As you compose a message, you can press <CONTROL>G (Get Help) at any time to see details about your current task.

Hints for Writing a Message:

To: In this field, type the electronic mail addresses of your recipients. Separate the addresses with commas. When you are finished, press <RETURN>. Note that if you type in only the userid (login name) of your recipient, the Pine program assumes that the "right-hand part" of your recipient's address is the same as yours (e.g., art.somewhere.edu), unless you explicitly enter a different one. Always check the addresses in both the To: and the Cc: fields for accuracy and completeness before you send a message. For more information, with your cursor in the To: field, press <CONTROL>G (Get Help).

Cc: In this field, type the electronic mail addresses of the persons to whom you want to send copies. Separate their addresses with commas. When you are finished, or if you do not want to send any copies, press <RETURN>.

Using the Address Book: In both the To: and the Cc: fields, you can enter a person's electronic mail address manually, or you can use an entry from your Pine Address Book. See "Using the Address Book."

Attchmnt: This is an advanced Pine feature that allows you to attach files, including word processing documents, spreadsheets, or images that exist on the same computer where you are running Pine. If you do not want to attach a file to your message, press <RETURN>. For more information, with your cursor in the Attchmnt: field, press <CONTROL>G (Get Help).

Subject: In this field, enter a one-line description of your message. A short, pertinent description is appreciated by the recipients, since this is what they see when they scan their electronic mail index. When finished, press <RETURN>.

Message Text: Type your message. To move around, use the arrow keys. To delete characters, press <BACKSPACE> or <DELETE>. To delete a line, press <CONTROL>K. To justify your text, press <CONTROL>J. To check your spelling, press <CONTROL>T. To see other editing commands, press <CONTROL>G (Get Help).

Inserting a Plain Text File. If you want to send a Òplain textÓ file with your message, you can insert the file in the body of your message using the <CONTROL>R (Read in a File) command. Plain text files are files created by text editors such as Pico, the editor you use when you compose a Pine message. For information about inserting files, with your cursor in the Message Text: field, press <CONTROL>G (Get Help).

Figure 3: A Pine Compose Message Screen

Hints for Sending a Message

Sending a Message. After your message is composed, press <CONTROL>X, and then type y or press <RETURN>. Your message is sent and a copy is saved to the sent-mail folder. If a message cannot be delivered, it eventually is returned to you. If you want to re-send a message, you can use the F (Forward) command.

Changing Your Mind. If you change your mind after typing <CONTROL>X, type n instead of y to continue to work on your message. While you are writing your message, you can press <CONTROL>O (Postpone) to hold your message so you can work on it later, or you can press <CONTROL>C (Cancel) to delete your message entirely. You are asked to confirm whether or not you want to cancel a message.

Listing Messages

Pine stores messages sent to you (including those you send to yourself) in your INBOX folder. Messages remain in your INBOX folder until you delete them or save them in other folders. To see a list of the messages you have received in your INBOX folder:

At the Pine Main Menu, type I (Folder Index).

If you have any messages, they are listed as shown in the following example for the user named "jhughes." (Figure 4).

The selected message is highlighted. The first column on the left shows the message status. It may be blank, or it may contain:

• "N" if the message is new (unread),
• "+" if the message was sent directly to you (it is not a copy or from a list),
• "A" if you have answered the message (using the Reply command), or
• "D" if you have marked the message for deletion.

The rest of the columns in the message line show you the message number, date sent, sender, size, and subject. For details, press ? (Help).

Most of the commands you need to handle your messages are listed at the bottom of the screen. You can type O (Other Commands) to see the additional commands that are available. You do not need to see these commands on the screen to use them. That is, you never need to type O as a prefix for any other command.

Figure 4: A Pine Folder Index Screen

Viewing a Message

1. 1. At the Folder Index screen, use the arrow keys to highlight the message you want to view.
2. 2. Type V (ViewMsg) or press <RETURN>to read a selected message.
3. 3. To see the next message, press N (NextMsg).

To return to the index, press I (Index).

Replying to a Message

To reply to a message that you have selected at the Folder Index screen or that you are viewing:

Type R (Reply).

You are asked whether you want to include the original message in your reply. Also, if the original message was sent to more than one person, you are asked if you want to reply to all recipients. Think carefully before you answerÑit may be that you do not want your reply to be sent to more than just the author of the message. It is always a good idea to verify that the addresses in the To: and Cc: fields are correct before you send a message.

Pine Folders

Incoming messages may quickly accumulate in your INBOX folder. Imagine what it would be like to find one hundred messages there. If you use electronic mail often, this may happen sooner than you expect. How should you organize the messages you wish to save?

Organizing Messages With Folders

A Pine folder, like a folder in your file cabinet, is a storage place for messages. As you use electronic mail, you accumulate many messages and can organize them into different folders by topic, correspondent, date, or any other category that is meaningful to you. You can create your own folders, and Pine automatically provides three:

• The INBOX folder-messages sent to you are listed in this folder. When you first start Pine and go to the Folder Index screen, you are looking at the list of messages in your INBOX folder. Every incoming message remains in your INBOX until you delete it or save it in another folder.
• The saved-messages folder-copies of messages you save are stored in this folder unless you save them to other folders you create yourself. See "Saving a Message."
• The sent-mail folder-copies of messages you send are automatically stored in this folder. This is convenient if you cannot remember whether you actually sent a message or if you want to send a message again.

Moving Between Folders

When you start Pine and press I (Index) at the Main Menu, you see a list of messages in your INBOX folder. If you want to see the messages in another folder, you need to go to that folder. The following text shows you two ways to go to another folder from nearly anywhere in Pine.

To access your folders and the messages that are stored in them:

1. Type L (Folder List).

You see a Folder List screen like the following (Figure 5), in which your current folder is highlighted. (When you start Pine, the current folder is your INBOX.)

2. Use the arrow keys to highlight a folder.

3. To see an index of the messages in that folder, type V (ViewFldr) or press <RETURN>. Note that this method of moving between folders takes you to the Folder List screen, which has a menu of commands that enable you to do such things as add, delete, and rename folders. If you simply want to move to and list the messages in another folder, try the method below.

To move most quickly to the index of another folder:

1. Type G (Goto Fldr). You are prompted for the name of a folder.
2. Type the folder name.
If you forget the name of the folder, press <CONTROL>T (ToFldrs) and select a folder using the commands at the bottom of the screen.
3. Press <RETURN>.
You see the list of messages in the folder.

Forwarding a Message

To forward to a message that you have selected at the Folder Index screen or that you are viewing:

1. Type F (Forward). A copy of the message opens and the To: field is highlighted.
2. Enter the address of your recipient and send the message as usual. Note that you can modify the original message if you wish, for example, to forward only a portion of it or to add a message or notes of your own.

Deleting a Message

You keep your Pine folders clean by routinely deleting messages. There are two steps to deleting a message: marking it for deletion, then expunging it.

To mark for deletion a message you do not want:

1. Select and open the folder that contains the message you wish to mark for deletion. If you are a Pine beginner, this is probably your INBOX folder. See "Moving Between Folders," if the message you want to mark for deletion is in a folder other than your INBOX.

2. At the Folder Index screen, select the message you want to mark for deletion, or simply view the message.

3. Type D (Delete). If you are looking at the Folder Index screen when you mark a message for deletion, a "D" appears in the left-hand column of the message line. If you are looking at the Message Text screen when you mark a message for deletion, a "DEL" appears in the upper right corner of your screen. The next message, if there is one, appears.

Repeat this process to mark additional messages for deletion.

Undeleting a Message

If you change your mind about a message you have marked for deletion, use the U (Undelete) command to remove the deletion mark any time before you expunge a message. After you expunge a message, Pine cannot get it back.

Figure 5: A Pine Folder List Screen

Using the Address Book

As you use electronic mail, you build a list of electronic mail correspondents. Some of their addresses may be difficult to type or remember. You can use the Pine Address Book to store electronic mail addresses for individuals or groups, to create easily remembered "nicknames" for these addresses, and to quickly retrieve an electronic mail address when you are composing a message. Here is a sample page from an Address Book (Figure 6):

Figure 6: A Pine Address Book Screen

There are two ways to set up an individual address in your Address Book. You can add an address manually or take it more easily from an incoming message. With either method, you specify nicknames for your correspondents. You can also set up a group (list) address in your Address Book, but only manually.

Adding an Individual Address

To add an individual address manually:

1. Note the address.
2. At the Pine Main Menu, type A (Address Book).
3. Type A (Add).
4. Follow the instructions. (Press <CONTROL>G if you need help.)

Taking an Individual Address From an Incoming Message

To take an individual address from a message you are viewing or have selected in the index:

1. Type T (Take Address). The T command is not visible on your screen unless you type O (Other Commands), but you need not see it to use it.
2. Follow the instructions. (Press <CONTROL>G if you need help.)

Using Address Book Entries When Composing E-Mail

When composing a message, at the To: or the Cc: (Carbon Copy) fields you can enter an electronic mail address in any of the following ways:

• Type the entire electronic mail address.
• Type a nickname you have set up in the Address Book.

For example, if your Address Book looked like the one in Figure 6, you could type the following nickname in the field

To: mu

After you pressed <RETURN>, Pine would provide the full address for Mu from the Address Book as follows:

To: Mu Li <muli@u.university.edu>

• Select a name from the Address Book:

Move to the Address Book (with your cursor in the To: or Cc: field press <CONTROL>T) and use the arrow keys to highlight the name you want. Type S (Select) or press <RETURN>.

Quitting Pine and Logging Out

To quit Pine:

1. At almost any place in Pine, type Q (Quit). You are asked: Really quit pine?
2. Type y (yes) or press <RETURN> to quit.

You should always log off your computer whenever you are through with it or when you must leave it unattended.