Pine(TM) is an electronic mail system created and maintained by the Computing & Communications group at the University of Washington. To help support Pine, a starter version of this document was created by C&C in 1994 for Pine 3.9. To meet local needs and conditions, modifications may have been made to either Pine or this document or both by local computer consultants. The CSuite version of this document has been developed by Carol Sin & Bonny Lee.
Pine is a trademark of the University of Washington. Permission to use this document for non-commercial purposes, in original or modified form, is granted, provided that the original source of the document is acknowledged as University of Washington Computing & Communications and that this paragraph, as well as the notice above, are retained on the title page of any documentation based on this text.
To quit: When you want to leave Pine, type Q (Quit). For details, see "Quitting Pine and Logging Out".
OTHER COMMANDS: The "Other Commands" function changes the keys you see at the bottom of any screen. (In some cases there are 3 different pages of keys which it toggles through.) ALL COMMANDS ARE ACTIVE, even if they are not currently showing at the bottom of your screen. In other words, you NEVER need to prefix a command key with the 'O' key.
CONTROL KEY: When composing mail and in a few other places in Pine you have to use Control keys which means pressing the control key and the letter indicated at the same time. This is usually shown with a "^" in front of the letter. On some systems, certain control characters are intercepted before they get to Pine. As a work-around, you can press the ESCAPE key twice followed by the desired key. For example, if Control-O (^O) does not work on your system, try typing "ESC ESC O".
PAGING UP/DOWN: The "+" and "-" keys are used for moving to the next or previous page. The space bar is a synonym for "+". You may also use Ctrl-V to page down and Ctrl-Y to page up as you do in the message composer. On screens with a Where-Is (search) command, W or Ctrl-W followed by Ctrl-V will move to the bottom of the message or list, and W or Ctrl-W followed by Ctrl-Y will move to the top of the message or list.
RETURN KEY: The return key is usually a synonym for a frequently used command. When viewing a message, there is currently not a default command, so RETURN does nothing; when in the index, it is synonymous with "view msg". In the key menu at the bottom of the screen, whatever is enclosed in square brackets [] is the same as the return key.
From the Main Menu, you can read online 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.
Figure 1. A Pine Main Menu Screen
PINE 3.9x MAIN MENU Folder:INBOX 2 Messages? HELP - Get help using Pine
C COMPOSE MESSAGE - Compose and send a message
I FOLDER INDEX - View messages in current folder
L FOLDER LIST - Select a folder to view
A ADDRESS BOOK - Update address book
S SETUP - Configure or update Pine
Q QUIT - Exit the Pine program
Copyright 1989-1996. PINE is a trademark of the University of Washington. [Folder "INBOX" opened with 2 messages]
? Help P PrevCmd R RelNotes O OTHER CMDS L [ListFldrs] N NextCmd
Release Notes on the current Pine version are also available from the MAIN MENU. Press 'R' to browse the release notes. These include changes since the last release.
PINE 3.9x COMPOSE MESSAGE Folder:INBOX 2 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
Figure 2. A Pine Compose Message Screen
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.
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 below.
PINE 3.9x COMPOSE MESSAGE Folder:INBOX 2 MessagesTo : Jean Hughes <jhughes@art.somewhere.edu> Cc : Attchmnt: Subject : Test ----- Message Text ----- This is a test.
^G Get Help ^X Send ^R Read File ^Y Prev Pg ^K Cut Text ^O Postpone ^C Cancel ^J Justify ^W Where is ^V Next Pg ^U UnCut Text ^T To Spell
Figure 3. A Pine Compose Message Screen
You are asked:
Send message?
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.)
Inserting a Plain Text File. If you want to send a "plain text" 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).
To see a list of the messages you have received in your INBOX folder:
If you have any messages, they are listed as shown in the following example for the user named "jhughes."
See "Moving Between Folders" if you want to list the messages in a folder other than your INBOX.
PINE 3.9x FOLDER INDEX Folder:INBOX Message 3 of 3 NEWD 1 Jan 10 Mu Li (486) Proposal + A 2 Jan 10 Christine Smith (500) NSF + N 3 Jan 11 To: jhughes (448) Test
? Help M Main Menu P PrevMsg - Prev Page D Delete R Reply O OTHER CMDS V [ViewMsg] N NextMsg Spc Next Page U Undelete F Forward
Figure 4. A Pine Folder Index Screen
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.
To see the next message, press N (NextMsg).
To return to the index, press I (Index).
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 answer--it 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.
A copy of the message opens and the To: field is highlighted.
To mark for deletion a message you do not want:
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.
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.
Expunging a Message
A message that is marked for deletion remains in Pine until you expunge it. You can expunge a message that is marked for deletion at any time, or you can wait until you quit Pine. Once you have a few messages marked for deletion, you may want to expunge them before you continue to work, because it is easier to look through a folder index that contains fewer messages.
To expunge a message:
You are asked:
Expunge "#" message(s) from "folder"?
Messages marked for deletion disappear.
Messages--whether they are in your INBOX or your other Pine folders--occupy storage space, and your storage space is limited.
Do not keep too many messages in your INBOX folder. A large INBOX reduces performance: it takes longer to display large lists of messages when you start Pine, and it requires more time to move between messages.
Delete your incoming messages right away if you do not want them, or save them to other folders if you do.
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:
You see a Folder List screen like the following, in which your current folder is highlighted. (When you start Pine, the current folder is your INBOX.)
PINE 3.9x FOLDER LIST Folder:INBOX 3 Messages INBOX sent-mail saved-messages 101class? Help M Main Menu P PrevFldr - PrevPage D Delete R Rename O OTHER CMDS V [ViewFldr] N NextFldr Spc NextPage A Add
Figure 5. A Pine Folder List Screen
To move most quickly to the index of another folder:
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.
You see the list of messages in the folder.
To delete a folder and all of the messages it contains:
You are asked:
Really delete "folder"?
The folder disappears. There is no way to undelete a deleted folder.
Once you save a message, the copy in the INBOX folder is automatically marked for deletion so that you will only have one copy. When you quit Pine, you are asked to confirm whether or not you want to expunge the copy from the INBOX folder. To conserve space, it is a good idea to do this.
Saving a Message to the Saved-Messages Folder
To save a message to the saved-messages folder:
Type S (Save).
You are asked if you want to save the message to the saved-messages folder or to another folder:
SAVE to folder [saved-messages]:
Pine saves your message, and you see the following:
[Message "#" copied to folder "saved-messages" and marked deleted]
You will find it useful to create additional folders for storing messages on particular subjects.
To save a message to a folder you specify:
Type S (Save) to save a message.
You are asked if you want to save it to the saved-messages folder or another folder:
SAVE to folder [saved-messages]:
For example, to save a message to a folder named "papers," type papers and press <Return>.
If this is the first time you have named this folder, you see the message:
Folder "papers" doesn't exist. Create?
Type y or press <Return> to create the folder.
Once you have created the folder, or whenever you type the name of a folder that already exists, you see a message like this one:
[Message "#" copied to folder "papers" and marked deleted]
As you use email, you build a list of email correspondents. Some of their addresses may be difficult to type or remember. You can use the Pine Address Book to store email addresses for individuals or groups, to create easily remembered "nicknames" for these addresses, and to quickly retrieve an email address when you are composing a message. Here is a sample page from an Address Book:
Figure 6. A Pine Address Book Screen
PINE 3.9x ADDRESS BOOK Folder:INBOX Message 1 of 3gomez Gonzalez, George ggonz@unixz.university.ca mu Li, Mu muli@u.university.edu chris Smith, Christine K. cksmith@art.somewhere.edu rt Research Team DISTRIBUTION LIST: gomez chris jhughes@art.somewhere.edu
? Help M MainMenu P PrevEntry - PrevPage D Delete S CreateList O OTHER CMDS E [Edit] N NextEntry Spc NextPage A Add Z AddToList
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:
To take an individual address from a message you are viewing or have selected in the index:
If you routinely send messages to a group, you can create a list address. That way you do not need to type each personŐs address every time you send a message to the group.
To create a list address:
When composing a message, at the To: or the Cc: (Carbon Copy) fields you can enter an email address in any of the following ways:
For example, if your Address Book looked like the one in Figure 6, you could type the following nickname in the To: field:
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>
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>.
Config (Setup Configuration) --Select additional options.