On CMS, you currently still have two options for using mail: RDRLIST/NOTE
and MAILBOOK/MAIL. The RDRLIST
command (also short RL) displays a list of files in a common
file pool, allowing you to view, receive (=save) or discard one of them at a
time:
These files may have been sent to your u12345@uicvm.uic.edu email account
(replace u12345 by your actual CMS userID). If you have already obtained
a UIC NetID, it will initially have been set up so that messages sent to yourNetID@uic.edu
also arrive here in your readerlist. As this is part of a common filespace,
a mechanism called the grim
reaper is in place to ensure your files don't take up too much space: files
get erased automatically when the readerlist is too full or they are too old.
If you want to retain a message, you have to RECEIVE it to your
A minidisk (or folder, if you are using the SFS). While the readerlist
allows you to receive non-mail files sent to you from other CMS-users via the
SENDFILE command, it is not MIME-compatible, so it cannot
handle email-attachments, such as graphics-, sound-, or word-processing-files.
Your other option on CMS is the RICEMAIL system, consisting of the commands
MAIL and MAILBOOK. The MAILBOOK command
is a menu-command. Without arguments, it lists all accessible NOTEBOOK
files:
Typing MAILBOOK in the prefix area for a specific NOTEBOOK
opens up this list of messages so you can do a variety of operations on them:
The MAIL command actually invokes MAILBOOK on your
UNREAD NOTEBOOK, but before doing so, it RECEIVEs
all mail from your readerlist. Thus it easily fills up your minidisk, leading
to problems when trying to save the NOTEBOOK (especially
if you keep lots of mail in your UNREAD NOTEBOOK as
in the example above). A big advantage of the RICEMAIL system though is its
ability to handle multiple NOTEBOOKs and keep track
(in your NAMES file) of associated NOTEBOOKs
for various addressees. It also displays the subject-headers of your messages,
so you can skim through them faster. But it also is not MIME-compatible, nor
Y2K-compatible.
Both of these options will be removed in the near future, just like all other services on our CMS mainframe. This system is not Y2K-compatible, way too expensive to maintain, and simply not capable of running modern applications.
So the need for an alternative is there. Fortunately, two far better programs
are freely available to everyone on campus: Eudora and pine.
As the campus is in the process of switching to IMAP servers, the need for pine
is decreasing rapidly, as IMAP allows you to manage your email from any PC/Mac,
while it remains stored on the server. This seminar focuses on Eudora,
an IMAP-capable email program with graphical interface, and available for both
Mac and PC with equal functionality.
You will soon receive notification that an account has been created for you on the new email server, at which time you will need to migrate to it within 30 days, accessing it via Eudora. Next we will see what that means.
