Sending a message to a list of people

If you frequently send mail to a certain group of people (all the people in your department, for example) you can create an ``alias'', or list of all their login names. You can use the alias when addressing a message to them as a group. Treat an alias just like a user's login: put it in the ``To'', ``Cc'', or ``Blind Cc'' field.

There are two types of aliases: private aliases, which are created by you for your own use, and system aliases, which can be used by everyone.

You can edit, delete, and create new private aliases by selecting Alias from the Options menu. You can look at system aliases, but you cannot create or change them.

To create a private alias or change the ones that you have, select:

Options Alias

A list of your private aliases is displayed. If the alias list is too big to be shown in its entirety, you can scroll backwards and forwards through it with your cursor movement keys. You can also use the <F5> search key.

Creating a new alias

To create a new alias and add it to your private alias list, select:

Alias Add

Enter the details of the new alias on the displayed form:

Field	Description
Alias	Enter the name of the new alias.
Type	Although there are two types of aliases, you can create only private aliases. Therefore, this field is filled in automatically.
Comment	Enter a short description of the alias. This description appears next to the alias name on the alias list.
Expands to	Enter the logins of the people who should be on the alias. The names must be separated by spaces.

Editing an alias

Edit an alias by selecting Edit from the Alias menu. You can change the name, and add or delete people from the alias.

Select an alias. The same form appears on your screen that you use to create a new alias, but it has the alias information already filled in. You can change any of the fields.

Deleting an alias

Delete an alias by selecting Delete from the Alias menu. The list of aliases on the screen becomes a point-and-pick list. Move the highlight to the alias that you want to delete, and press <Enter>. The alias disappears from the list, and the Alias menu reappears. You can delete only one alias at a time.

Viewing an alias

Look at the contents of an alias without changing it by selecting View from the Alias menu. You can view system and private aliases.

When you select View from the Alias menu, the list of aliases on the screen becomes a point-and-pick list. Highlight the alias that you want to view, and press <Enter>.

When the Alias menu is on the screen, you normally see a list of your private aliases. To see a list of system aliases, select Display.

If you select System, the onscreen list of your private aliases is replaced with a list of all system aliases. When the Alias menu reappears, select View to examine any of these aliases. Because these are system aliases, you can only look at them; you cannot edit them, delete them, or create new ones.

Including yourself in an alias

By default, when you send mail to a system alias of which you are a member, a copy of your mail is not distributed to you. To receive a copy of such mail, select Preferences from the Options menu, and then select ``Include Self''.

Problems with using an alias

There are problems with using system and personal aliases in SCO Shell Mail. If SCO Shell Mail is being run under a German locale, the ``Selecting Recipients'' feature, which lists system and personal aliases, causes SCO Shell Mail to exit without warning. This problem prevents viewing and selection of all aliases. The ``Selecting Recipients'' feature is invoked when you enter the <F3> key to fill out the ``To:'' or ``Cc:'' header fields of the message you are creating. To work around this problem, run SCO Shell Mail with a non-German LANG set, or type the aliases into the header fields manually.

Any attempt to add, modify, view or delete personal aliases causes SCO Shell Mail to hang. This problem occurs in all locales, and there is no workaround.