1alpine(1) General Commands Manual alpine(1)
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6 alpine - an Alternatively Licensed Program for Internet News and Email
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9 alpine [ options ] [ address , address ]
10 alpinef [ options ] [ address , address ]
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14 Alpine is a screen-oriented message-handling tool. In its default con‐
15 figuration, Alpine offers an intentionally limited set of functions
16 geared toward the novice user, but it also has a large list of optional
17 "power-user" and personal-preference features. alpinef is a variant of
18 Alpine that uses function keys rather than mnemonic single-letter com‐
19 mands. Alpine's basic feature set includes:
20 View, Save, Export, Delete, Print, Reply and Forward messages.
22 Compose messages in a simple editor (Pico) with word-wrap and a
24 spelling checker. Messages may be postponed for later comple‐
25 tion.
26 Full-screen selection and management of message folders.
28 Address book to keep a list of long or frequently-used
30 addresses. Personal distribution lists may be defined.
31 Addresses may be taken into the address book from incoming mail
32 without retyping them.
33 New mail checking and notification occurs automatically every
35 2.5 minutes and after certain commands, e.g. refresh-screen
36 (Ctrl-L).
37 On-line, context-sensitive help screens.
39 Alpine supports MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions), an Inter‐
41 net Standard for representing multipart and multimedia data in email.
42 Alpine allows you to save MIME objects to files, and in some cases, can
43 also initiate the correct program for viewing the object. It uses the
44 system's mailcap configuration file to determine what program can
45 process a particular MIME object type. Alpine's message composer does
46 not have integral multimedia capability, but any type of data file
47 --including multimedia-- can be attached to a text message and sent
48 using MIME's encoding rules. This allows any group of individuals with
49 MIME-capable mail software (e.g. Alpine, PC-Alpine, or many other pro‐
50 grams) to exchange formatted documents, spread-sheets, image files,
51 etc, via Internet email.
52 Alpine uses the c-client messaging API to access local and remote mail
54 folders. This library provides a variety of low-level message-handling
55 functions, including drivers for a variety of different mail file for‐
56 mats, as well as routines to access remote mail and news servers, using
57 IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and NNTP (Network News Trans‐
58 port Protocol). Outgoing mail is usually posted directly via SMTP
59 (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol).
60
62 The command line options/arguments are:
63 address Send mail to address. This will cause Alpine to go
65 directly into the message composer.
66 -attach file Send mail with the listed file as an attachment.
68 -attachlist file-list
70 Send mail with the listed file-list as an attach‐
71 ments.
72 -attach_and_delete file
74 Send mail with the listed file as an attachment,
75 and remove the file after the message is sent.
76 -aux local_directory
78 PC-Alpine only. When using a remote configuration
79 (-p <remote_config>) this tells PC-Alpine the local
80 directory to use for storing auxiliary files, like
81 debug files, address books, and signature files.
82 -bail Exit if the pinerc file does not exist. This might
84 be useful if the config file is accessed using some
85 remote filesystem protocol. If the remote mount is
86 missing this will cause Alpine to quit instead of
87 creating a new pinerc.
88 -c context-number context-number is the number corresponding to the
90 folder-collection to which the -f command line
91 argument should be applied. By default the -f
92 argument is applied to the first defined folder-
93 collection.
94 -conf Produce a sample/fresh copy of the system-wide con‐
96 figuration file, pine.conf, on the standard output.
97 This is distinct from the per-user .pinerc file.
98 -convert_sigs -p pinerc
100 Convert signature files into literal signatures.
101 -copy_abook <local_abook> <remote_abook>
103 Copy the local address book file to a remote
104 address book folder.
105 -copy_pinerc <local_pinerc> <remote_pinerc>
107 Copy the local pinerc file to a remote pinerc
108 folder.
109 -d debug-level Output diagnostic info at debug-level (0-9) to the
111 current .pine-debug[1-4] file. A value of 0 turns
112 debugging off and suppresses the .pine-debug file.
113 -d key[=val] Fine tuned output of diagnostic messages where
115 "flush" causes debug file writing without buffer‐
116 ing, "timestamp" appends each message with a time‐
117 stamp, "imap=n" where n is between 0 and 4 repre‐
118 senting none to verbose IMAP telemetry reporting,
119 "numfiles=n" where n is between 0 and 31 corre‐
120 sponding to the number of debug files to maintain,
121 and "verbose=n" where n is between 0 and 9 indicat‐
122 ing an inverse threshold for message output.
123 -f folder Open folder (in first defined folder collection,
125 use -c n to specify another collection) instead of
126 INBOX.
127 -F file Open named text file and view with Alpine's
129 browser.
130 -h Help: list valid command-line options.
132 -i Start up in the FOLDER INDEX screen.
134 -I keystrokes Initial (comma separated list of) keystrokes which
136 Alpine should execute on startup.
137 -install For PC-Alpine only, this option causes PC-Alpine to
139 prompt for some basic setup information, then
140 exits.
141 -k Use function keys for commands. This is the same as
143 running the command alpinef.
144 -n number Start up with current message-number set to number.
146 -noutf8 Warns Alpine that piped input is not encoded in
148 UTF-8.
149 -nowrite_password_cache
151 Read from a password cache if there is one, but
152 never offer to write a password to the cache
153 -o Open first folder read-only.
155 -p config-file Use config-file as the personal configuration file
157 instead of the default .pinerc.
158 -P config-file Use config-file as the configuration file instead
160 of default system-wide configuration file
161 pine.conf.
162 -passfile <fully-qualified-path>
164 When password file support is compiled in, use the
165 file specified in <fully-qualified-path> instead of
166 the default.
167 -pinerc file Output fresh pinerc configuration to file, preserv‐
169 ing the settings of variables that the user has
170 made. Use file set to ``-'' to make output go to
171 standard out.
172 -pwdcertdir <fully-qualified-path>
174 When SMIME and password file support are compiled
175 in, this variable sets the directory to store your
176 personal key and certificate to encrypt and decrypt
177 your password file.
178 -r Use restricted/demo mode. Alpine will only send
180 mail to itself and functions like save and export
181 are restricted.
182 -registry cmd For PC-Alpine only, this option affects the values
184 of Alpine's registry entries. Possible values for
185 cmd are set, clear, and dump. Set will always
186 reset Alpine's registry entries according to its
187 current settings. Clear will clear the registry
188 values. Clearsilent will silently clear the reg‐
189 istry values. Dump will display the values of cur‐
190 rent registry settings. Note that the dump command
191 is currently disabled. Without the -registry
192 option, PC-Alpine will write values into the reg‐
193 istry only if there currently aren't any values
194 set.
195 -smimedir <fully-qualified-path>
197 If SMIME is compiled in, this argument sets the
198 directory where the public, private, and certifi‐
199 cate authorities certificates and keys are stored.
200 If not set by the command line the default is
201 ~/.alpine-smime
202 -sort order Sort the FOLDER INDEX display in one of the follow‐
204 ing orders: arrival, date, subject, orderedsubj,
205 thread, from, size, score, to, cc, or reverse.
206 Arrival order is the default. The OrderedSubj
207 choice simulates a threaded sort. Any sort may be
208 reversed by adding /reverse to it. Reverse by
209 itself is the same as arrival/reverse.
210 -supported Some options may or may not be supported depending
212 on how Alpine was compiled. This is a way to
213 determine which options are supported in the par‐
214 ticular copy of Alpine you are using.
215 -uninstall For PC-Alpine only, this option causes PC-Alpine to
217 remove references to Alpine in Windows settings.
218 -url url Open the given url. Cannot be used with -f or -F
220 options.
221 -v Version: Print version information.
223 -version Version: Print version information.
225 -x config Use configuration exceptions in config. Exceptions
227 are used to override your default pinerc settings
228 for a particular platform, can be a local file or a
229 remote folder.
230 -z Enable ^Z and SIGTSTP so alpine may be suspended.
232 -option=value Assign value to the config option option e.g. -sig‐
234 nature-file=sig1 or -feature-list=signature-at-bot‐
235 tom (Note: feature-list values are additive)
236
238 There are several levels of Alpine configuration. Configuration values
239 at a given level over-ride corresponding values at lower levels. In
240 order of increasing precedence:
241 o built-in defaults.
243 o system-wide pine.conf file.
244 o personal .pinerc file (may be set via built-in Setup/Config menu.)
245 o command-line options.
246 o system-wide pine.conf.fixed file.
247 There is one exception to the rule that configuration values are
249 replaced by the value of the same option in a higher-precedence file:
250 the feature-list variable has values that are additive, but can be
251 negated by prepending "no-" in front of an individual feature name.
252 Unix Alpine also uses the following environment variables:
253 TERM
255 DISPLAY (determines if Alpine can display IMAGE attachments.)
256 SHELL (if not set, default is /bin/sh )
257 MAILCAPS (semicolon delimited list of path names to mailcap files)
258
260 /usr/spool/mail/xxxx Default folder for incoming mail.
261 ~/mail Default directory for mail folders.
262 ~/.addressbook Default address book file.
263 ~/.signature File used for signature, appended to every
264 message.
265 ~/.pine-debug[1-4] Diagnostic log for debugging.
266 ~/.pinerc Personal alpine config file.
267 ~/.pine-crash Debug information useful to debug a crash.
268 ~/.newsrc News subscription/state file.
269 ~/.mailcap Personal mail capabilities file.
270 ~/.mime.types Personal file extension to MIME type map‐
271 ping
272 /etc/mailcap System-wide mail capabilities file.
273 /etc/mime.types System-wide file ext. to MIME type mapping
274 /usr/local/lib/pine.info Local pointer to system administrator.
275 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf System-wide configuration file.
276 /usr/local/lib/pine.conf.fixed Non-overridable configuration file.
277 ~/.alpine-smime/ca Directory that contains Certificate Author‐
278 ity files.
279 ~/.alpine-smime/private Directory that contains private key(s).
280 ~/.alpine-smime/public Directory that contains public key(s).
281 /tmp/.\usr\spool\mail\xxxx Per-folder mailbox lock files.
282 ~/.pine-interrupted-mail Message which was interrupted.
283 ~/mail/postponed-msgs For postponed messages (drafts)
284 ~/mail/sent-mail Outgoing message archive (FCC).
285 ~/mail/saved-messages Default destination for Saving messages.
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288 pico(1), binmail(1), aliases(5), mailaddr(7), sendmail(8), spell(1),
289 imapd(8)
290 Newsgroup: comp.mail.pine
292 Mailing List:
294 Alpine-info, at https://www.washington.edu/alpine/alpine-info/
295 Main Alpine distribution site:
297 http://patches.freeiz.com/alpine/release/
298 Alpine Technical Notes, included in the source distribution.
300 C-Client messaging API library, included in the source distribution.
302
304 This software is the result of the contribution of many individuals
305 who have dedicated their time to support, improve and suggest ways
306 to improve Alpine through the years. This software would not be
307 possible without the support of the University of Washington in
308 Seattle, Washington. The Alpine community extends its most sincere
309 thanks to all contributors and invites everyone to join in and
310 contribute to this project.
311 Version 2.21 alpine(1)