PMDF User's Guide
OpenVMS Edition


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REPLY

Reply to a mail message.

Syntax

REPLY [file-spec[,...]]

Qualifiers Defaults
/ABORT See text
/ALL /NOALL
/BCC /NOBCC_PROMPT
/BCC_LIST=address None
/BCC_PROMPT /NOBCC_PROMPT
/CC See text
/CC_LIST=address None
/CC_PROMPT See text
/COMMENTS See text
/DELAY_WARNING /DELAY_WARNING
/DELIVERY_RECEIPT See text
/DIGEST=number /NODIGEST
/EDIT[=option] /NOEDIT
/ENCAPSULATE /ENCAPSULATE
/ENTIRE /PART
/EXTRACT See text
/FROM=address None
/IGNORE See text
/INSERT See text
/LAST /NOLAST
/LIST See text
/MESSAGE /PART
/MULTIPLE /SINGLE
/PART /PART
/PERSONAL_NAME=name See text
/PRIORITY=priority See text
/READ_RECEIPT See text
/REMOVE /NOREMOVE
/REPEATED /REPEATED
/RESENT /NORESENT
/REPLY_TO=address See text
/RETURN_CONTENT /RETURN_CONTENT
/SELF See text
/SENSITIVITY=sensitivity See text
/SIGNATURE=text See text
/SINGLE /SINGLE
/SUBADDRESS None
/SUBJECT=subject See text
/TO /NOTO_PROMPT
/TO_LIST=address None
/TO_PROMPT /NOTO_PROMPT
/TRIM_HEADER /NOTRIM_HEADER
/USER=username None
Positional Qualifiers Defaults
/BLOCK /TEXT
/EIGHTBIT=option /EIGHTBIT=LEAVE
/ENCODING=encoding None
/FILENAME=name /NOFILENAME
/RECORD /TEXT
/TEXT /TEXT

Parameters

file-spec[,...]

Optional list of one or more files to send as the reply. If /INSERT is specified, then these files will be sent as attachments to the reply which you enter as you would any other mail message.

Description

Use the REPLY command to reply to a mail message which you have just read. By default, the reply will be sent to the address specified on the Reply-to: header line of the message being replied to if one is present, to the From: header line if no Reply-to: is present, and to the Sender: header line if neither Reply-to: nor From: are present. The /LIST, /RESENT, and /ALL qualifiers further modify this behavior:

/LIST --- If a Reply-to: address was specified in the message being responded to, then direct the reply to that address. /LIST is the default unless /ALL is specified, in which case the default is /NOLIST.
/RESENT --- Use, preferentially, any resent header lines which might be present in the message being responded to.
/ALL --- Also send the message to any To:, Cc:, or Bcc: recipients who appeared in the message being responded to. /ALL also changes the default from /LIST to /NOLIST.
Use the /CC, /BCC, or /TO qualifiers if you want to specify additional recipients to whom a copy of your reply should be sent.

If you do not specify any files, or if you specify the /INSERT qualifier, then you will be prompted for the text of your reply. In the case of the /INSERT qualifier, any files which you specified will be sent as attachments to your reply.

To abort a message reply, enter CTRL/C. If you are entering the reply from an editor, then exit the editor without saving your reply.


Qualifiers

/ABORT

/IGNORE

The /ABORT qualifier causes the message reply to fail if any of the To:, Cc:, or Bcc: addresses prove to be illegal. The /IGNORE qualifier permits the reply to be sent provided that at least one of the addresses is legal. The illegal addresses are ignored and will not appear in the message's header. The default behavior, if neither /ABORT or /IGNORE are specified, is to prompt you when any of the addresses are illegal. You will be given the choice of whether to cancel the reply or to go ahead and send the reply to only the legal addresses.

/ALL

/NOALL (default)

By default, when you reply to a message the reply is directed to the From: or Sender: address associated with the message to which you are replying. The /NOALL qualifier explicitly requests this behavior. However, with the /ALL qualifier you can direct the reply to both the From: or Sender: address and all other recipient addresses, To:, Cc:, and Bcc:, appearing in the message. Note that the Reply-to: address, if present, is not selected by the /ALL qualifier. Use the /LIST qualifier to select the Reply-to: address in addition to the other addresses selected with the /ALL qualifier.

/BCC

/BCC_LIST=address[,...]

/BCC_PROMPT

/NOBCC_PROMPT

You are prompted for Bcc: (blind carbon copy) addresses only when you specify either the /BCC or /BCC_PROMPT qualifier. Specifying /NOBCC_PROMPT inhibits Bcc: prompting. You may use the /BCC_LIST qualifier to specify one or more Bcc: addresses on the REPLY command line itself. The /BCC qualifier is an abbreviation for /BCC_PROMPT.

/COMMENTS=comment

/NOCOMMENTS

Normally, a Comments: header line is generated only when you have defined the PMDF_COMMENTS logical. If you specify /NOCOMMENTS, then that logical will not be used and no Comments: line will be added to the header of the reply. If, instead, you specify a comment with the /COMMENTS qualifier, then that comment will be placed on a Comments: header line, and PMDF_COMMENTS, if defined, will be ignored.

/CC

/CC_LIST=address[,...]

/CC_PROMPT

/NOCC_PROMPT

By default, you are prompted for Cc: (carbon copy) addresses only when you have previously used the SET CC_PROMPT command. The /CC_LIST, /CC_PROMPT, and /NOCC_PROMPT qualifiers override this behavior. If you specify the /CC_PROMPT qualifier, you will be presented with a "Cc:" prompt to which you may specify zero or more Cc: addresses. Specifying /NOCC_PROMPT inhibits Cc: prompting. You may use the /CC_LIST qualifier to specify one or more Cc: addresses on the REPLY command line itself. The /CC qualifier is an abbreviation for /CC_PROMPT.

/DELAY_WARNING (default)

/NODELAY_WARNING

The qualifier controls whether or not PMDF requests that delay notifications be sent in case this message is not delivered immediately. The default is that PMDF requests delay notifications. However, note that some remote mailers may not support sender specification of whether delay notifications be sent and may unconditionally do one or the other regardless of whatever you request.

/DELIVERY_RECEIPT[=keyword]

/NODELIVERY_RECEIPT

Normally, a Delivery-receipt-to: header line is generated only when you have defined the PMDF_DELIVERY_RECEIPT logical. If you specify /NODELIVERY_RECEIPT, then no Delivery-receipt-to: line will be generated. If, instead, you specify the /DELIVERY_RECEIPT qualifier, then a delivery receipt will be requested of all recipients of the reply, and the PMDF_DELIVERY_RECEIPT logical, if defined, will be ignored. One of the keywords HEADER, NOTARY, or BOTH may optionally be specified to control what style of delivery receipt to construct (header style, NOTARY envelope style, or both, respectively).

/DIGEST=number[,...]

/NODIGEST (default)

Your reply may contain one or more messages encapsulated into a MIME message digest. This is done with the /DIGEST qualifier. With that qualifier, specify one or more messages via their message numbers. Ranges are permitted: /DIGEST=(1,3,6-9,15-20) specifies messages 1, 3, 6 through 9, and 15 through 20.

/EDIT[=option]

/NOEDIT (default)

To compose your reply from within an editor, specify the /EDIT qualifier. The /NOEDIT qualifier prevents an editor from being invoked. By default, an editor is only invoked if, when you ran PMDF MAIL, you specified the qualifier /EDIT=(REPLY). By default the message's RFC 822 header will also appear in the editor. To suppress the presentation of the RFC 822 header, specify /EDIT=NOHEADER. To request that the header appear in the editor, specify /EDIT=HEADER.

/EXTRACT[=quote]

/EXTRACT=NONE

/NOEXTRACT

When you specify /EXTRACT, the content of the message to which you are replying will be included in your reply. The editor will be invoked so that you may edit the reply before it is sent. When /NOEXTRACT is specified, the content of the original message will not be included in the reply. The optional quote string specifies a text string to preface each line of the extracted message with. If specified, this string will override any profile setting or setting made when PMDF MAIL was invoked. Specify NONE to prevent any quoting from occurring. If PMDF MAIL was invoked with the qualifier /EDIT=(REPLY=EXTRACT), then /EXTRACT will be the default behavior when you reply to a message; otherwise, /NOEXTRACT will be the default.

/ENCAPSULATE (default)

/NOENCAPSULATE

Specify whether or not to treat input files specified with the optional file-spec parameter as separate attachments each encapsulated as a separate message body part.

/ENTIRE

/MESSAGE

/PART (default)

By default, when you reply to a multipart or nested message, only the current message part is responded to (addressing information is extracted from that message part). This behavior is explicitly requested with the /MESSAGE qualifier. To reply to the entire message, specify /ENTIRE (addressing information is extracted from the outermost set of message headers); to reply to only the current part, use /PART. In regards to the source of reply address information, /PART and /MESSAGE are equivalent; however, in regards to the /EXTRACT qualifier, /PART causes only the current part to be extracted whereas /MESSAGE leads to the current message part being extracted. When replying to a single-part message which is not nested, the /ENTIRE, /PART, and /MESSAGE qualifiers are identical and have no effect.

/FROM=address

/NOFROM

When you specify /NOFROM, the PMDF_FROM logical is ignored and a standard From: header line containing your address is generated. When you use /FROM, the specified address is used to construct the From: header line, and your real (authenticated) address is placed in a Sender: header line.

/INSERT

/NOINSERT

The /INSERT qualifier instructs PMDF MAIL to prompt you for additional message text and insert it as an attachment to the message. The additional text entered by hand (either through an editor or in response to the "Enter your message below" prompt) will be placed at the top of the message, with any attached files appearing afterwards.

/LAST

/NOLAST (default)

The /LAST qualifier causes the content of the last message you sent to be used as the content of the reply. /NOLAST selects the default behavior in which you are expected to generate the content of the reply yourself.

/LIST (default)

/NOLIST

Use /LIST to direct the reply to the Reply-to: address, if present, rather than the From: or Sender: address. The reply will be sent to the From: or Sender: address of the message being responded to if /NOLIST is specified. Note that /NOLIST becomes the default if /ALL is specified.

/MULTIPLE

/SINGLE (default)

By default, you are prompted only once for each type of recipient address, To:, Cc:, and Bcc:. If you specify /MULTIPLE, then you will be prompted repeatedly for each of these address types. For each type, the prompt will repeat until you enter a blank line. /SINGLE selects the default behavior.

/PERSONAL_NAME=name

/NOPERSONAL_NAME

The /PERSONAL_NAME and /NOPERSONAL_NAME qualifiers override the setting of the SET PERSONAL_NAME command. When you use the /PERSONAL_NAME qualifier, the specified name will be used in the personal name field of your return address which appears in the From: header line of your reply. Specifying /NOPERSONAL_NAME prevents any personal name from appearing in your return address.

/PRIORITY=priority

/NOPRIORITY

Normally, a Priority: header line is generated only when you have defined the PMDF_PRIORITY logical. If you specify /NOPRIORITY, then no Priority: line will be generated. If, instead, you specify the /PRIORITY qualifier, then the supplied priority will be included in a Priority: header line. The legal priorities are: NO-PRIORITY, THIRD-CLASS, SECOND-CLASS, NON-URGENT, NORMAL, and URGENT. NO-PRIORITY is equivalent to /NOPRIORITY.

/READ_RECEIPT

/NOREAD_RECEIPT

Normally, a Read-receipt-to: header line is generated only when you have defined the PMDF_READ_RECEIPT logical. If you specify /NOREAD_RECEIPT, then no Read-receipt-to: line will be generated. If, instead, you specify the /READ_RECEIPT qualifier, then a read receipt will be requested of all recipients of the reply, and any address specified by the PMDF_READ_RECEIPT logical will be ignored.

/REPEATED (default)

/NOREPEATED

/REPEATED, the default, requests that all repeated address header lines in the message being replied to be examined. For instance, some messages may contain multiple To: header lines. To cause only the first of each header line to be examined, specify /NOREPEATED. Do not confuse repeated header lines with header lines which are merely wrapped and appear as several lines on your terminal display. Wrapped lines begin with a space; repeated header lines always begin with a field name such as "To:"

/REPLY_TO=address

/NOREPLY_TO

Normally, a Reply-to: header line is generated only when you have defined the PMDF_REPLY_TO logical. If you specify /NOREPLY_TO, then no Reply-to: line will be generated. If, instead, you specify the /REPLY_TO qualifier, then the supplied address will be placed in a Reply-to: header line, and any PMDF_REPLY_TO logical ignored.

/REMOVE

/NOREMOVE (default)

When /REMOVE is specified, your address will be removed from the list of recipients even if you explicitly specified your address as a To:, Cc:, or Bcc: address or have /COPY_SELF enabled for replies. Your address will appear in the Cc: list if you specify /SELF. The combination /ALL/REMOVE/SELF is particularly useful as it prevents your own address from appearing in both the To: and Cc: address lists.

/RESENT

/NORESENT (default)

By default, replies are sent to the From: address if present and the Sender: address otherwise. When /RESENT is specified, the Resent-From: or Resent-Sender: address will be used in preference to the From: or Sender: address.

/RETURN_CONTENT (default)

/NORETURN_CONTENT

These qualifiers control whether return-of-content is requested for non-delivery reports.

/SELF

/NOSELF

The /SELF and /NOSELF qualifiers override the behavior of the SET COPY_SELF command. /SELF causes a copy of your reply to be sent to you; your address will appear in the Cc: header line. When /NOSELF is specified, you will not receive a copy of the message unless you explicitly include your address in the To:, Cc:, or Bcc: address lists.

/SENSITIVITY=sensitivity

/NOSENSITIVITY

Normally, a Sensitivity: header line is generated only when you have defined the PMDF_SENSITIVITY logical. If you specify /NOSENSITIVITY, then no Sensitivity: line will be generated. If, instead, you specify the /SENSITIVITY qualifier, then the supplied sensitivity will be included in a Sensitivity: header line. The legal sensitivities are: NOT-SENSITIVE, PERSONAL, PRIVATE, and COMPANY-CONFIDENTIAL. NOT-SENSITIVE is equivalent to /NOSENSITIVITY.

/SIGNATURE=signature-spec

/NOSIGNATURE

Normally, signature lines are appended to the end of your message only if the PMDF_SIGNATURE logical is defined. When you specify /NOSIGNATURE, no signature lines are appended to your reply. When, however, you specify the /SIGNATURE qualifier, then the specified signature is appended to your message. If signature-spec begins with an at-sign, @, then the signature lines are copied from the file name following the at-sign; otherwise, signature-spec itself is appended to the end of the reply.

/SUBADDRESS=subaddress

Attaches a subaddress to your return address.

/SUBJECT=subject

/NOSUBJECT

By default, the Subject: line in your reply will be copied from the message to which you are responding. You may omit entirely any Subject: line from your reply with the /NOSUBJECT qualifier. Or, alternatively, you may specify an entirely different Subject: line with the /SUBJECT qualifier.

/TO

/TO_LIST=address[,...]

/TO_PROMPT

/NOTO_PROMPT (default)

By default, you are not prompted for additional To: addresses when you reply to a message. The /NOTO_PROMPT qualifier explicitly requests this behavior. Use the /TO_PROMPT qualifier if you want to be prompted for additional To: addresses to which to send your reply. You may use the /TO_LIST qualifier to specify one or more To: addresses in the REPLY command line itself. The /TO qualifier is an abbreviation for /TO_PROMPT.

/TRIM_HEADER

/NOTRIM_HEADER (default)

By default, no header trimming is applied to any included messages. Use the /TRIM_HEADER qualifier to apply header trimming to any included messages.

/USER=username

Reply as though you are the specified user; that is, the From: address in the reply will be that of the specified user. No Sender: header line is added. Use of this qualifier requires either WORLD privilege or the PMDF_WORLD or PMDF_WORLD_username rightslist identifier. The /USER qualifier is intended for use by postmasters. It comes in handy when you need to unsubscribe a user from a remote mailing list. /NOPERSONAL_NAME is assumed when /USER is specified.

Positional Qualifiers

/BLOCK

/RECORD

/TEXT

The /BLOCK, /RECORD, and /TEXT positional qualifiers may only be used in conjunction with an input file specification. These qualifiers allow you to override the default file reading (access) mode which PMDF would otherwise use to read the input file. Typically, PMDF uses /TEXT.

/EIGHTBIT=option

/NOEIGHTBIT

Specify how to handle eight bit characters found in an input file (i.e., characters for which the eighth bit is set). The available options are:
HEXIFY Replace each eight bit character with =XX where "XX" is the character's ordinal value expressed in hexadecimal.
LEAVE Leave eight bit characters untouched. This is the default behavior.
REMOVE Remove eight bit characters from the message; removed characters are not replaced with anything to indicate their removal or former presence.
REPLACE Replace each eight bit character with a question mark, "?".
STRIP Clear the eighth bit in each character of the message; i.e., "strip" the eighth bit from eight bit characters.
The default behavior is /EIGHTBIT=LEAVE. Use /NOEIGHTBIT or /EIGHTBIT=REMOVE to remove all eight bit characters from input files.

/ENCODING=encoding

The /ENCODING positional qualifier may only be used in conjunction with an input file specification. The /ENCODING qualifier allows you to override the default file encoding method which PMDF would otherwise use to encode the input file. The legal encoding types are: NONE, 8BIT, 7BIT, BASE32, BASE64, BASE85, BINHEX, BTOA, HEXADECIMAL, OLD-BASE64 (for use with PMDF V4.0), PATHWORKS, QUOTED-PRINTABLE, UUENCODE, COMPRESSED-BASE64, and COMPRESSED-UUENCODE.

/FILENAME=name

/NOFILENAME (default)

The /FILENAME and /NOFILENAME positional qualifiers may only be used in conjunction with an input file specification. When an input file is attached as a separate message body part to the reply, that part's Content-type: header line will, by default, omit the optional file name parameter. This default behavior is explicitly selected with the /NOFILENAME qualifier. When /FILENAME is specified, the name of the input file will be included in the Content-type: header line. If no value is specified on the /FILENAME qualifier, then the name of the input file is used.

Examples

#1

EMAIL> READ 2 (1)
 
Message MAIL 2                                     18-FEB-2012 08:27:45.18
 
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2012 08:27:45 PDT
From: rex@example.com
Subject: Mrochek
To: misha@example.com, beckett@example.com
Cc: fresnel@example.com
 
Have any of you seen Mrochek recently?
 
EMAIL> REPLY/ALL/EDIT
To: rex@example.com (2)
Cc: misha@example.com, beckett@example.com, fresnel@example.com (3)
Subject: RE: Mrochek
    1       Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2012 20:40:24 PDT
* C
     .
     .
     .
* EXIT
D1:[MISHA]MAIL_01GV430A0XRS8WW9J2_SEND.TMP;2  12 lines
EMAIL>
      

Here, after reading a mail message, (1), a reply is sent. The reply is directed to the sender of the original message, rex@example.com ((2)). In addition, the /ALL qualifier is used to specify that the recipients of the original message should all be copied on the response, (3). The /EDIT qualifier causes the editor to be invoked and used to generate and edit the response. Once the editor is exited, the response is sent.

#2

EMAIL> READ/NEW
 
Message NEWMAIL 1                                  24-FEB-2012 14:18:18.69
 
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2012 14:18:18 PDT
From: "John Doe" <JOHNDOE@EXAMPLE.COM>
Subject: Please send me the test results ASAP
To: JANEDOE@EXAMPLE.COM
 
Jane,
Please send me the latest test results as soon as possible.
              Thanks, John
 
EMAIL> REPLY/INSERT 23FEB.DAT_1,23FEB.DAT_2
To: "John Doe" <JOHNDOE@EXAMPLE.COM>
Subject: RE: Please send me the test results ASAP
Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, or CTRL/C to quit:
Attached below are two files with the results of the latest (1)
runs.  I haven't yet looked at them myself.
[CTRL/Z]
EMAIL>
      

In this example, a response is sent which has two file attachments: 23FEB.DAT_1 and 23FEB.DAT_2. These attachments accompany the message which begins with a simple text message, (1).


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