Introduction to the Internet Computer Science 1604

E-Mail

Communication is important. In addition to verbal communication, people relay their thoughts and ideas by body language, signals, and the written word. Getting that writing from the author to one's audience in a timely manner has been a concern for many years. Electronic mail (e-mail) has made the process almost instantaneous.

Any discussion of e-mail must include information on how e-mail address are formed. An e-mail address generally consists of two parts:

  a userid & a machine name connected by an at "@" sign

E-mail can be sent between different networks by using gateways. Different networks use different conventions for forming userids, and sending e-mail between two different networks can be tricky.

Types of E-mail

The two basics types of e-mail are mainframe based and client-server. Mainframe mail was the most common until recently. It involves creating, sending, receiving, reading and managing your mail on one machine.

Personal computers generally use client-server based mail. The mail is read, composed, and managed on the personal computer (the client) but actually sent and received by the mail server. The mail client and server communicate using the Post Office Protocol POP . Mainframe mail is received continuously. With client-server mail, mail is held on the server until the client requests it.

Internet mail is based on the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP). Binary files can be sent but they must first be BINHEXED or uuencoded. Most email clients will do this automatically. Some mailers balk at lines more than 80 characters long and there are also limits on the number of lines in any one mail message.

Mail Clients: Eudora

Eudora is a popular mail client for Windows and the Macintosh. It is available as shareware or commercially. Complete Eudora documentation is available over the Internet in PDF format.

An Introduction to Eudora is available locally or check out one from England.

UNIX mail

UNIX mail is handled by the sendmail transport program. The sendmail set of system programs routes mail to the proper send/delivery program based on the recipients address. Most UNIX machines come with a user mail program (mail or mailx) already installed. The man pages on your system or any introductory UNIX text will give you information about using mail. You can also enter the mail command and then a question mark at the prompt to see help.

UNIX mail: elm

elm is a user mail program that interfaces with sendmail. If elm was properly installed on the UNIX system that you use, you should be able to reference information about it by entering: man elm

WWW information on elm is also available.

UNIX mail: pine

The pine program is another UNIX user mail program that is very similar to elm. The pine program will soon be available for other platforms and will include a newsreader.

Common Features of Mail Program

Mail programs allow you to send e-mail locally or around the world depending upon your network connections. In addition, most mail packages allow

CC or BCC

this allows you to send a copy of a message to someone at the same time you are sending the original. If you use BCC, the original recipient does not know that a copy has been sent.

signature

a signature is a brief (KEEP IT UNDER 5 LINES) bit of text that is attached to the bottom of sent messages. It is common to include your snail mail address and phone number. Many people also include bits of wisdom.

mailboxes

mailboxes let you sort and store your message so that they are easier to look at again. You can create mailboxes based on topics or people, or any scheme your little heart desires.

nicknames

who wants to keep typing a long address? No one. That is why e-mail packages let you create nicknames. For example, jwatson@vtvm1.cc.vt.edu can become "judy". You can also use create a mailing list with nicknames.

forwarding

mail packages make it easy to forward a message to a third person. Be sure you send messages that would not embarass you if they were forwarded.

replies

mail packages make it easy to reply to messages. Most let you include text from the original message in the reply.

Always obey etiquette rules when you send e-mail. It is always good to think before pressing SEND.

Authors: jwatson@vt.edu and barnette@cs.vt.edu