Brief Introduction to Elm

To use Elm on the math machines, just type the word elm (all lower case letters) at the system prompt. When first invoked, elm needs to create a couple of directories for it to store your email. It will ask you if it is ok to create these directories. You should respond by typing yes. Once you have done this, a new window will be displayed listing all of your new mail messages. It should look something like this:

From this figure, you can see that elm is somewhat menu driven. To send a message, you would just type the letter m. Elm will ask you who the message is going to, if you want to cc anyone, and the subject of the message. If you want to send a message to more than one person, you will need to separate their email addresses by spaces. Once you have filled in the header information, Elm will call up the Emacs text editor to compose your message. Once you have finished the message, you will need to hold down the control key while pressing the letter 'x' then the letter 'c.' It will ask you if you want to save the message. You should type 'y' for yes. It is only saved temporarily until you send the message. Elm will then quit out of Emacs and return you to the Elm command prompt where you have several options. You can choose to actually send the message by typing the letter 's' or you can cancel the message by typing 'f' for forget it, as well as a few other options.

To delete a message, make sure that the message you want to delete is highlighted (use the arrow keys), and press the 'd' key. To quit out of elm, just type a 'q.' To get additional help using elm, just type a '?' while still in elm. Or, if you quit out of elm, you can read the man page by typing 'man elm' at your math prompt.

Elm is the mail reader of choice on the ACS machines. Information Technology has free tutorials dedicated to teaching you how to use Elm. Please check the Tutorial Schedule available at the front office of Information Technology (111 Cummington St.) for the dates and times of these tutorials.