Pine was written at The University of Washington, which provides complete documentation in its Pine Information Center.

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Requirements for Using Pine

• An Internet connection.
• Secure software for establishing a connection to the ITS Login Service, where Pine can be run.

Windows. Use SSH Secure Shell software. For information about obtaining and using SSH Secure Shell, see Using SSH Secure Shell to Connect to Host Computers [Windows] (s4304).

Macintosh. Mac OS X comes with SSH software called Terminal. Open the Applications folder, then the Utilities folder to find it. Open Terminal and enter this command:
ssh login.itd.umich.edu

The Blue Disc installs an icon in your dock that you can click to connect to the Login Service.

Opening Pine

1. Use your secure software to connect to the Login Service (login.itd.umich.edu).
2. At the Unix prompt (%), type pine.

Pine's top line displays the Pine version number, the name of the current screen, and the folder you are currently in.



The bottom two rows display the available commands. Each command is activated by typing the indicated letter. Sometimes, you will have additional choices, which you can view by typing O (Other commands).

IMPORTANT! If a command letter is preceded by a ^ symbol, hold down the Control key while typing the command letter.

Composing Messages

1. Type C to compose an outgoing message. You will see a screen similar to the example pictured (the example shows text already entered).



2. In the To field, enter one or more names (with blanks replaced by periods) or uniqnames. Separate names with commas. Press Return or Enter to go to the next field.

The system will append "@umich.edu" to the name or uniqname. However, if your recipient does not have an e-mail address registered in the U-M Online Directory, you need to enter the full Internet address (for example, someone@aol.com).

3. To move to the other fields, use the arrow keys or press Tab, Return, or Enter. To send a "carbon copy" of the message, enter the recipient's e-mail address in the Cc field. Enter a subject for your message in the Subject field.
4. Move to the Message Text area and type your message.

Pine supports simple editing with commands listed on the bottom two rows of the screen. For a review of composer commands, type ^G (Control-G) while composing a message. Type E to exit the help screen. For more tips on using the editor in Pine, see Using the Unix Text Editor Pico (R1168).

5. To send your message, type ^X (Control-X).

Reading and Replying To Mail

1. To read mail, type I to view the Index. Pine will display each message's date of arrival, sender, size, and subject.
2. Use the arrow keys to select a message, then press Return or Enter to view the text.



3. To reply to a message, press R. Pine will ask if you want to include (quote) the message in your reply. If you answer yes, Pine will include the message and mark it with > symbols.
4. Pine will ask "Reply to all recipients?" You can respond by typing either N for no, Y for yes, or ^C for cancel. If you just hit the Return or Enter key, Pine assumes your response was "no," and includes only the sender of the message you are replying to rather than all recipients. Do not reply to all recipients unless you are sure they all really need to see your reply. It's generally best to reply just to the sender of the original message.

Printing Your Messages

1. Select the message you want to print by either selecting it in the Index list or opening it.
2. Type % or Y. (These both function as print commands.)
3. You'll see a confirmation prompt at the bottom of your Pine screen.



4. Type Y for yes.

Setting Up Pine to View URLs

1. Open Pine. Type S for Setup.
2. You'll then see a prompt at the bottom of your Pine window asking you to choose a setup task. Type C for configuration.



3. You'll then see a menu of configuration options. Page down (by pressing the space bar) to the "enable-msg-view-urls" option. Use your arrow keys to select that option. Then press the Return or Enter key. An "X" will appear next to that option.



4. Type E to exit the setup menu and return to the main Pine menu.
5. You'll see a prompt at the bottom of the Pine window asking if you want to commit your changes. Type Y for yes.

Using Pine to View URLs

1. After you have enabled the viewing of URLs in Pine, (see above) you'll be able to highlight URLs in messages you receive by using your arrow keys.



2. While you have a URL highlighted, press the Return or Enter key. The text-based Web browser Lynx will open, and you will be connected to the URL.
3. When you are finished browsing the Web, type Q to quit Lynx and return to Pine.

Quitting Pine and Logging Out

1. Type Q to quit Pine.
2. To log out of the Login Service, type exit at the Unix prompt (%).
3. Quit the software you used to connect to the Login Service.

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Additional Resources

The University of Washington's Pine Information Center has just about everything you could possibly want to know about Pine and then some. Pine was written by people at the University of Washington. The following document, in the Pine Information Center, is especially helpful: Getting Started With Email Using Pine.

Visit ITS's Information System to obtain ITS computer documentation and other resources. A list of relevant documents follows:

Using SSH Secure Shell to Connect to Host Computers [Windows] (S4304)

Using Pine E-Mail (T7037)

Understanding Your Standard Computing Services (S4260)

We welcome your comments; please send e-mail.

ITS's Online Help Desk provides a variety of computing help resources.

For further help with Pine, send e-mail or phone (734) 764-HELP.

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