Virginia Montecino
George Mason University
993-1773
Robinson A 112D
(May be copied with attribution)
Some basic editing and pine commands:
The ^ sign before a command means to hold down the CTRL
key, while pressing the appropriate command key after the ^. (For
example: holding down the CTRL key and pressing the D
key at the same time will delete text
Logging on from a campus lab computer:
1. SelectInternet Apps, then TELNET from the list of options. Type your e-mail name at the Username prompt. Write your password in the Password prompt (your e-mail password will not appear on screen for security reasons). If you are activating a NEW account or changing your password, see the directions at the end of these instructions.
2. At the VT100 message, press the Enter (return key).
3. At the mason/osf1> prompt, type: pine (use lowercase letters. Pine is case sensitive.)
4. Notice the MAIN MENU choices: Help, Compose, Folder Index, Folder List, Address Book, Set Up, Quit. Select the highlighted letter in front of the choice you want or press Enter.
5. To COMPOSE and SEND a message:
a) Select C for Compose (Or press the Enter key when Compose is highlighted. You can move about with the arrow keys). After you select Compose you will see what looks like a memo form. Fill in the e-mail "name" (address) of the addressee. (You can send a copy to someone by typing that person's e- mail name at the CC:).
b) Fill in the Subject: Type the subject of your message.
c) Use the Down arrow to scroll down to the message portion. Type in the message. You can Cancel your message anytime by pressing the CTRL key and the C key ^C))at the same time.
d) Send your message by typing CTRL X .
6. To Create a distribution list to send messages to a group.
a) Select the Address book option by pressing the letter A (you can access it from the Main menu by pressing the letter M if not already there.)
b) See the list of options (bottom of the screen). Select option S ) to create the list. After you press S, then write in a title you choose for the name of the list. Then press the Enter key to accept the name. Then enter a nickname that is easy to remember. Press Enter again.
c) Type the first e-mail address. Press the Enter key. Then type the next e-mail address and press Enter. When you are through adding names to your list, press the Enter key again to accept the list.
7. To Retrieve a message, type the letter L to select Folder List from the Main Menu (remember to type the letter M to get back to the Main Menu if you can't get there from where you are). Then use the appropriate arrow (left, or right, up, or down) key to move around until you highlight the Inbox. Press the Enter key while the Inbox is highlighted to call up messages sent to you. Press Enter again at a particular message (or type the number before that message) to see the text. To scroll down the full text of a long message, press the space bar.
8. To Forward a message to someone else, type the letter F while the message is on the screen and fill in the To: with the e-mail address; Compose any additional text and delete any non-pertinent text (see basic commands above). Then send like any other message.
9. To Reply to a message, while the message you want to reply to is on the screen, press the letter R. When prompted, you can choose to include the original text message or not. Type your reply message and press ^ X . You can edit or delete any portion of the original text. To Cancel, Press ^C .
10. To Create a folder to put your messages in (When you have a lot of e-mail this is a good way to file away groups of messages under an identifying name). While reading a message, type the letter S. A message will say Save to Folder [a name will be displayed]. To file your message under that name, press the Enter key. To change the name and put it in another folder, just type a new name. Notice the options at the bottom of the screen, such as renaming a folder.
11. To Export a message to your home directory in mason/osf1(to send as an attached file, or download to your home or office computer) press the E key, while reading it, and, when prompted, give the message a relevant name and press Enter. To see the message (file) in your home directory, at the mason.gmu.edu> prompt, type ls
12. To Delete a message, either press the D key while reading it, or scroll to it in your message folder and select D. A letter D in front of the message indicates that the message will be deleted when you exit pine, if you select "Y" when prompted.
13. To Print a Message, select the Y key. (Be sure you have chosen the correct print option from the Set Up section of the Main Menu. For print options:
Printing from on campus student labs in Robinson:-
Press Shift | and, when prompted type in the appropriate command. For example, if you are in Robinson A lab 105, type in:
lpr -ProbA105or lpr -ProbA107 if printing in lab 107
Printing from home computer -
If you are using your home or office computer and want to print to your personal printer, select option 1 (ANSI) in Printer Setup. You can change the printer instructions any time to fit where you want to print out. (Other options are available in Setup, such as changing your password.)
14. To EXIT pine, type q. To completely log out of the system, type logout at the mason/osf1.gmu.edu> prompt.
***[To exit from home an additional step is required: At the GMU_Dial> prompt, type logout. Be sure your modem is still not active by properly logging out of your communications software.]
15. To create a "signature" block on your e-mail messages, so you don't have to individually "sign" your messages, at the mason/osf1.gmu.edu> prompt, type: pico .signature and then press the Enter key. Type your full name and whatever else you want to include. You can edit your text by using the delete commands at the beginning of these instructions. Then press ^X to save your signature block. You will be asked if you want to "save" the modified buffer?". Type Y if you are satisfied, N if not.
16. To Read, Print or Save an Attached File (text, images, or executable programs sent to you in a form not readily visible in your e-mail message, but indicated in your message header) sent to you with an e-mail message:
a) Select the View option (See bottom of your screen for menu).
b) Select the text file you want to read by using your arrow key and pressing Enter.
--- To Print an attached text file select the Y option.
--- To Save the attached file in your mason/osf1.gmu.edu directory, select the S option. You will be prompted to name the file. Type a relevant name, then press Enter.
---To see the filenames in your home directory, type ls at the mason/osf1.gmu.edu> prompt and press Enter.
---To Read and/or Edit files in your home directory at mason/osf1.gmu.edu>, type pico filename.txt (substitute filename.txt for the name and extension of your file). For specific editing commands, see the options at the beginning of these instructions). Press CTRL X to edit and/or save changes. Type Y or N (when prompted) , to save or not save changes. You can edit a file the same way you edit your signature (See Item 15.)
---To attach a file (residing in your mason/osf1.gmu.edu> home directory) to an e-mail message, scroll down to the Attachment portion of the pine message header. Type in the name of the file residing in your home directory. If you don't remember the name, select ^J, then ^ T. You will be sent to your home directory where you can scroll to the correct file, and press Enter.
---To send a file as part of an e-mail message, select ^ R while in the message portion of pine. Then select the correct file from your mason/osf1.gmu.edu directory. This is not a good option, however, for long texts since they will clog up the receiver's email account.
To Access the Internet, at the osf1.gmu.edu> prompt, type lynx. Lynx is a fast hypertext web browser, minus graphics viewing capability. You can also type in specific URLs (http://addresses). Type lynx http://www.gmu.edu to access GMU's home page. You can mail information to yourself by selecting the (P ) option, then the Mail a File option. Then type in your e-mail address and send it. You can also send the file to your mason/osf1 directory by selecting the Send a File option. Type ls at the osf1.gmu.edu > prompt to see if the file is in your home directory.
For a Web browser that lets you see pictures and graphics, use a Graphical User Interface (GUI) browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer. See Internet Apps on the campus lab computer menu. (The lab menu style is subject to change.)].
To Get or download a text file from your directory on osf1 (using Z modem transfer method), first set your modem to the z modem protocol. Then type sz -a filename.txt (Substitute your file's name for "filename.txt" at the osf1.gmu.edu>prompt). The file will be placed in the default download directory in your computer's communications software program or a directory you set up.
[If the file you are sending or receiving is an image, graphics,
spreadsheet, or other non-DOS text file, type sz -b
filename (with appropriate extension)].
Send or upload a file from your home computer to your osf1 directory:
If you are using a Windows communications software program, a "box" will display your C: drive files/folders. You can click on the appropriate folder to find your file or click on another drive, such as a:\ to find your file. Then click on the file and it will be sent to your home directory on osf1. To see if the file is in your osf1 home directory, type ls at the osf1.gmu.edu> prompt. You can edit your file by using the editing commands for pine. To save changes press ^X to save the changes. You can then send a copy of a file in your home directory as an attached file via e-mail to an individual or a distribution list. Long texts are best sent as attached files so they don't clog up space in e-mail accounts.
File Transfer - uploading and downloading using file transfer protocol (ftp) software:
The GMU LAN and the labs (under Internet applications), have windows-based ftp software.
See the "How-to" section of my web page (at http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/how-to.htm) for software to download to your home computer for this process.
- To Get a New Account or Reset your Password using a Modem
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