Help Information on $MAIL and the MAIL system


Introduction

	The MAIL system consists of $MAIL and $PSTOFC.  MAIL is the sender,
	receiver, registerer program; PSTOFC is the user services program.


Calling The Programs

	To run MAIL, type RUN $MAIL followed by a RETURN, or just use the CCL
	command MAIL by typing 'MAIL' followed by a RETURN.

	To run PSTOFC, type RUN $PSTOFC and then hit RETURN, or use the CCL
	command POST by typing 'POST' followed by a RETURN.


Descriptions

	MAIL allows the user to register, and once registered, send and
receive mail to and from other REGISTERED users.  Remember:  MAIL allows
the user to send mail ONLY to other users who previously registered through
MAIL.

	PSTOFC allows the user to correct his/her name on the MAIL registration
ledger if for any reason it is incorrect, and, most of all, it allows the user
to list other registered mail receivers that the user can send mail to.
For more information on PSTOFC, run it, use the HELP command, and get the
comprehensive PSTOFC help message.


Registration

	To use MAIL, the user must first register, which involves running
MAIL and entering his/her name for entry into the MAIL user ledger.  The
name is used in PSTOFC user listings and in the header of all MAIL messages.
Once the user is registered, the facilities of the MAIL system are available
to him.


Mail Operation

	When you run MAIL, it will first greet you in a friendly way and
address you by your first name (the characters up to the first space in
the name string you gave when registering).  In this manner, MAIL allows
the user to make sure his name is correct on the MAIL ledger of registered
users.

	Once you have been greeted, MAIL will look through your account to
see if anyone has sent you mail.  If mail is found, MAIL will tell you so
and ask if you would like it to be printed on the terminal.  More information
on receiving mail will be given later.

	Once the procedures outlined above have been taken care of, MAIL
will ask the user for an account in to which the user desires to send mail.
The user must respond by entering a project-programmer number specification
in this format:  X,Y.  Ex:  135,11

	This instructs the mailman to prepare a letter for delivery into
account [135,11].  All mail letters are sent with a header containing the
sender, his account, his KB number, and the date and time when the letter
was sent.

	Once the letter is prepared, the mailman will allow the user to
begin typing his message in on the terminal.  An ESC ('ESCAPE') character
is typed by the user to terminate and effect delivery of the letter.


Disk File Input

	The mailman can also send mail directly out of an accessable file
on disk, or any other medium for that matter.  To make use of this feature,
the user can do one of two things.  At the account prompt the user may hit
RETURN, rather than entering an account specification.  The mailman will
re-prompt the user for an account, at which time the recipient's account
SHOULD be entered.  The mailman will then ask the user for a file to
read the mail from.  A RETURN at this point returns the program to keyboard
input mode.  If you wish to do input from a file, enter that file specification
and hit RETURN.  The mailman at this point will open the file and read
the mail to be sent from it into the specified target account.  After this,
the postman will return to the account-entry point.

	The user may also enter an account specification in this format:

			X,Y/<filespec>

	Example:	135,11/MAIL.TXT


	This will instruct the mailman to take the data in MAIL.TXT in the
current account and send it as a letter into account [135,11].


	This is the alternate method (and faster method) to send a letter from
data contained in a file on disk or any other storage medium.

	If at any time an error occurs, such as if the postman cannot read
the input data file, an error message will be generated and the postman
will return to the account-entry point.


Receiving Mail

	To read your mail you may either run MAIL, which will read your mail
to you, or type 'TY MAIL.BOX', which will print out your mail for you.
If your system notifies you of the presence of mail, it is desirable to read
your mail and immediately erase it, so that you are not told to read mail
that you have already read.  To erase your mail, you can read your mail through
MAIL and it will allow you to delete it once you are finished reading it.
If you prefer, you can type  KILL 'MAIL.BOX' (apostrophes important) at
BASIC command level to erase it.


MAIL Terminology

	Your RECIPIENT is the person to whom you wish to send mail.  To send
mail to him, you must know his account number and give it to MAIL when it
is requested.  If you don't know, the LIST command of PSTOFC will list
mail receivers and their accounts.


Exiting MAIL

	To exit MAIL, type Control-C for an immediate, fast exit, and a
Control-Z to exit at any prompt.


Exiting PSTOFC

	When in PSTOFC, a Control-C will perform a fast exit from the program.
Control-Z is used to return the user to PSTOFC command level.  For more info
on PSTOFC, run it and use the HELP command.



			Happy MAILing!!

[End MAIL.HLP]