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Mail servers, like the
famous European ones at EMBL and EBI
(netserv@embl-heidelberg.de and netserv@ebi.ac.uk, respectively),
send sequences via electronic mail on request. To use this service,
you need to know the
procedures for
sending and receiving mail. The easiest way to get started is to
follow one of the examples below and retrieve the
HELP file to get more information. This
HELP document
explains how to retrieve the data submission form. It
should be noted that
electronic mail is not recommended for
sequence retrieval if you have access to other alternatives
(e.g., access via WWW).
The standard 'Mail' program (occasionally also 'mail' with lower case 'm')
is rarely used
on UNIX platforms. For the sake of completion it is
included here.
Example:
Subsection 6.4.1 The 'Mail' Program in UNIX
% Mail netserv@embl-heidelberg.de
Subj: help
<CTRL><D>
%
The system will send the mail. You will not get any notification
about incoming mail,
unless you can start a program called 'xbiff' in an X-Windows environment
.
The messages are received automatically when you start the
'Mail' program. You will
get a list of messages (with numbers) to choose from, and
the message is only displayed after
proper selection.
The program's prompt is usually a '&' character. If you are in doubt what
to do
next, type 'h' for help.
% Mail 1 N netserv@embl-heidelberg.de Thanks for the call, ... 2 N netserv@embl-heidelberg.de Automatic reply ... & 2 From:IN%'netserv@embl-heidelberg.de' Subj: Automatic reply...... & s mail.dat 'mail.dat' [new file] & d & <CTRL><D> %
The 'message handler' program is one of the possible mail programs which you can use on a UNIX platform. Many systems have an intuitive, easy to use 'xmh' program which lets you use the 'mh' program in the X-Windows environment . Before you can send a message, you need to compose it first. The following example shall illustrate the proceeding.
% comp To: netserv@embl-heidelberg.de Subj: help <CTRL><D> What now? send %The system will send the mail. You will not get any notification about incoming mail, unless you can start a program called 'xbiff' in an X-Windows environment . The messages are received automatically when you issue the command 'scan'. You will get a list of messages (with numbers) to choose from. To display a message, type the command 'show' followed by the number of the message.
% scan 1 N netserv@embl-heidelberg.de Thanks for the call, ... 2 N netserv@embl-heidelberg.de Automatic reply ... % show 1 From:IN%'netserv@embl-heidelberg.de' Subj: Automatic reply...... % show 1 > mail.dat % rmm 1