Getting started with Pine

Writing a message

To write a message, press C (Compose). You see the compose message screen.

In the command menu, the caret (^) character is used to indicate the Control key. This character means you must hold down the Control key (written in this document as <Ctrl> while you press the letter for each command.

Different commands are available to you when your cursor is in different fields on this screen. To see additional commands available when your cursor is in the Message Text field, type <Ctrl>G (Get Help). For example, to move around, use the arrow keys or <Ctrl>N (Next line) and <Ctrl>P (Previous line); to correct typing errors, use <Bksp> or <Del>. A full list of the Compose commands (and a sample screen) is given in ``Compose message screen and commands'', and from the Pine online help. As you compose a message, you can type <Ctrl>G (Get Help) at any time.

You might start experimenting in Pine by sending yourself a message, as follows:

Press C (Compose) to see the Compose Message screen.
In the To: field, type your email address and press <Enter>.
In the Cc: field, press <Enter>.
In the Attachment: field, press <Enter>.
In the Subject field:, type Test and press <Enter>.
Below the Message Text line, type This is a test.
To send your message, type <Ctrl>X (Send). You are asked:
```
Send message?
```
Press y (yes) or press <Enter>.

The message is sent and a copy is saved to your sent-mail folder. (If you press n (no) the message is not sent, and you can continue to work on it.) You have just sent a basic message.

In the To: field, type the email addresses of your recipients, and in the Cc: field, the addresses of users who should receive a copy of the message. Separate the addresses with commas. When you are finished, press <Enter>. Always check the addresses in both the To: and the Cc: fields for accuracy and completeness before you send a message.

For information on finding and formatting email addresses on local and remote computers, type <Ctrl>G (Get Help) while your cursor is in the To: field.

In both the To: and Cc: fields, you can enter a person's email address manually, or you can use an entry from your Pine address book. See ``Using address book entries when composing email'' for details.

The Attchmnt: field is an advanced Pine feature that allows you to attach files, including word processing documents, spreadsheets, or images that exist on the same computer where you are running Pine. If you do not want to attach a file to your message, press <Enter>. For more information, place your cursor in the Attchmnt: field, then type <Ctrl>G (Get Help).

In the Subject: field, enter a one-line description of your message. A short, pertinent description is appreciated by recipients, since this is what they see when they scan their index of messages. When finished, press <Enter>.

In the Message Text:, type your message. To move around, use the arrow keys. To delete a character, press <Bksp> or <Del>. To delete a line, type <Ctrl>K. To justify text, type <Ctrl>J. (To immediately undelete a line or to unjustify text, type <Ctrl>U). To check the spelling, type <Ctrl>T. To see other editing commands, type <Ctrl>G (Get Help).