NAME
alpine - an Alternatively Licensed Program for Internet News and Email
SYNTAX
alpine [ options ] [ address , address ]
alpinef [ options ] [ address , address ]
DESCRIPTION
Alpine is a screen-oriented message-handling tool. In its default
configuration, Alpine offers an intentionally limited set of functions
geared toward the novice user, but it also has a large list of optional
"power-user" and personal-preference features. alpinef is a variant of
Alpine that uses function keys rather than mnemonic single-letter
commands. Alpine’s basic feature set includes:
View, Save, Export, Delete, Print, Reply and Forward messages.
Compose messages in a simple editor (Pico) with word-wrap and a
spelling checker. Messages may be postponed for later
completion.
Full-screen selection and management of message folders.
Address book to keep a list of long or frequently-used
addresses. Personal distribution lists may be defined.
Addresses may be taken into the address book from incoming mail
without retyping them.
New mail checking and notification occurs automatically every
2.5 minutes and after certain commands, e.g. refresh-screen
(Ctrl-L).
On-line, context-sensitive help screens.
Alpine supports MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions), an
Internet Standard for representing multipart and multimedia data in
email. Alpine allows you to save MIME objects to files, and in some
cases, can also initiate the correct program for viewing the object.
It uses the system’s mailcap configuration file to determine what
program can process a particular MIME object type. Alpine’s message
composer does not have integral multimedia capability, but any type of
data file --including multimedia-- can be attached to a text message
and sent using MIME’s encoding rules. This allows any group of
individuals with MIME-capable mail software (e.g. Alpine, PC-Alpine, or
many other programs) to exchange formatted documents, spread-sheets,
image files, etc, via Internet email.
Alpine uses the c-client messaging API to access local and remote mail
folders. This library provides a variety of low-level message-handling
functions, including drivers for a variety of different mail file
formats, as well as routines to access remote mail and news servers,
using IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and NNTP (Network News
Transport Protocol). Outgoing mail is usually posted directly via SMTP
(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol).
OPTIONS
The command line options/arguments are:
address Send mail to address. This will cause Alpine to go
directly into the message composer.
-attach file Send mail with the listed file as an attachment.
-attachlist file-list
Send mail with the listed file-list as an
attachments.
-attach_and_delete file
Send mail with the listed file as an attachment,
and remove the file after the message is sent.
-aux local_directory
PC-Alpine only. When using a remote configuration
(-p <remote_config>) this tells PC-Alpine the local
directory to use for storing auxiliary files, like
debug files, address books, and signature files.
-bail Exit if the pinerc file does not exist. This might
be useful if the config file is accessed using some
remote filesystem protocol. If the remote mount is
missing this will cause Alpine to quit instead of
creating a new pinerc.
-c context-number context-number is the number corresponding to the
folder-collection to which the -f command line
argument should be applied. By default the -f
argument is applied to the first defined folder-
collection.
-conf Produce a sample/fresh copy of the system-wide
configuration file, pine.conf, on the standard
output. This is distinct from the per-user .pinerc
file.
-convert_sigs -p pinerc
Convert signature files into literal signatures.
-copy_abook <local_abook> <remote_abook>
Copy the local address book file to a remote
address book folder.
-copy_pinerc <local_pinerc> <remote_pinerc>
Copy the local pinerc file to a remote pinerc
folder.
-d debug-level Output diagnostic info at debug-level (0-9) to the
current .pine-debug[1-4] file. A value of 0 turns
debugging off and suppresses the .pine-debug file.
-d key[=val] Fine tuned output of diagnostic messages where
"flush" causes debug file writing without
buffering, "timestamp" appends each message with a
timestamp, "imap=n" where n is between 0 and 4
representing none to verbose IMAP telemetry
reporting, "numfiles=n" where n is between 0 and 31
corresponding to the number of debug files to
maintain, and "verbose=n" where n is between 0 and
9 indicating an inverse threshold for message
output.
-f folder Open folder (in first defined folder collection,
use -c n to specify another collection) instead of
INBOX.
-F file Open named text file and view with Alpine’s
browser.
-h Help: list valid command-line options.
-i Start up in the FOLDER INDEX screen.
-I keystrokes Initial (comma separated list of) keystrokes which
Alpine should execute on startup.
-install For PC-Alpine only, this option causes PC-Alpine to
prompt for some basic setup information, then
exits.
-k Use function keys for commands. This is the same as
running the command alpinef.
-n number Start up with current message-number set to number.
-o Open first folder read-only.
-p config-file Use config-file as the personal configuration file
instead of the default .pinerc.
-P config-file Use config-file as the configuration file instead
of default system-wide configuration file
pine.conf.
-pinerc file Output fresh pinerc configuration to file,
preserving the settings of variables that the user
has made. Use file set to ‘‘-’’ to make output go
to standard out. <IP> -registry cmd 20 For PC-
Alpine only, this option affects the values of
Alpine’s registry entries. Possible values for cmd
are set, clear, and dump. Set will always reset
Alpine’s registry entries according to its current
settings. Clear will clear the registry values.
Clearsilent will silently clear the registry
values. Dump will display the values of current
registry settings. Note that the dump command is
currently disabled. Without the -registry option,
PC-Alpine will write values into the registry only
if there currently aren’t any values set.
-r Use restricted/demo mode. Alpine will only send
mail to itself and functions like save and export
are restricted.
-sort order Sort the FOLDER INDEX display in one of the
following orders: arrival, date, subject,
orderedsubj, thread, from, size, score, to, cc, or
reverse. Arrival order is the default. The
OrderedSubj choice simulates a threaded sort. Any
sort may be reversed by adding /reverse to it.
Reverse by itself is the same as arrival/reverse.
-supported Some options may or may not be supported depending
on how Alpine was compiled. This is a way to
determine which options are supported in the
particular copy of Alpine you are using.
-uninstall For PC-Alpine only, this option causes PC-Alpine to
remove references to Alpine in Windows settings.
-url url Open the given url. Cannot be used with -f or -F
options.
-v Version: Print version information.
-version Version: Print version information.
-x config Use configuration exceptions in config. Exceptions
are used to override your default pinerc settings
for a particular platform, can be a local file or a
remote folder.
-z Enable ^Z and SIGTSTP so alpine may be suspended.
-option=value Assign value to the config option option e.g.
-signature-file=sig1 or -feature-list=signature-at-
bottom (Note: feature-list values are additive)
CONFIGURATION
There are several levels of Alpine configuration. Configuration values
at a given level over-ride corresponding values at lower levels. In
order of increasing precedence:
o built-in defaults.
o system-wide pine.conf file.
o personal .pinerc file (may be set via built-in Setup/Config menu.)
o command-line options.
o system-wide pine.conf.fixed file.
There is one exception to the rule that configuration values are
replaced by the value of the same option in a higher-precedence file:
the feature-list variable has values that are additive, but can be
negated by prepending "no-" in front of an individual feature name.
Unix Alpine also uses the following environment variables:
TERM
DISPLAY (determines if Alpine can display IMAGE attachments.)
SHELL (if not set, default is /bin/sh )
MAILCAPS (semicolon delimited list of path names to mailcap files)
FILES
/usr/spool/mail/xxxx Default folder for incoming mail.
~/mail Default directory for mail folders.
~/.addressbook Default address book file.
~/.pine-debug[1-4] Diagnostic log for debugging.
~/.pinerc Personal alpine config file.
~/.newsrc News subscription/state file.
~/.mailcap Personal mail capabilities file.
~/.mime.types Personal file extension to MIME type
mapping
/etc/mailcap System-wide mail capabilities file.
/etc/mime.types System-wide file ext. to MIME type mapping
/etc/pine.info Local pointer to system administrator.
/etc/pine.conf System-wide configuration file.
/etc/pine.conf.fixed Non-overridable configuration file.
/tmp/.\usr\spool\mail\xxxx Per-folder mailbox lock files.
~/.pine-interrupted-mail Message which was interrupted.
~/mail/postponed-msgs For postponed messages.
~/mail/sent-mail Outgoing message archive (FCC).
~/mail/saved-messages Default destination for Saving messages.
SEE ALSO
pico(1), binmail(1), aliases(5), mailaddr(7), sendmail(8), spell(1),
imapd(8)
Newsgroup: comp.mail.pine
Alpine Information Center: http://www.washington.edu/alpine
Source distribution: ftp://ftp.cac.washington.edu/alpine/alpine.tar.gz
Alpine Technical Notes, included in the source distribution.
C-Client messaging API library, included in the source distribution.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The University of Washington Alpine development team (part of the UW Office
of Computing & Communications) includes:
Project Leader: Mike Seibel
Principal authors: Mike Seibel, Steve Hubert, Jeff Franklin
C-Client library & IMAPd: Mark Crispin
Documentation: Many people!
Project oversight: Terry Gray, Lori Stevens
Principal Patrons: Ron Johnson, Mike Bryant
Initial Alpine code base: Pine - by the University of Washington,
Elm - by Dave Taylor & USENET Community Trust
Initial Pico code base: MicroEmacs 3.6, by Dave G. Conroy
User Interface design: Inspired by UCLA’s "Ben" mailer for MVS
Suggestions/fixes/ports: Folks from all over!
$Date: 2008-08-22 13:40:16 -0700 (Fri, 22 Aug 2008) $
Version 2.00 alpine(1)