5 List Message Headers
This command will list message header information. The information pertaining to a message is listed on one line for easy viewing.
Subcommands
| [beg. msg. #] | Beginning message number. | This is the message number that you wish to begin the scan with. The default scan direction is in the forward direction. If you wish to go in the reverse direction please see the - subcommand. |
| + | Scan in forward direction. | When appended to the beginning message number you can set the direction in which PCBoard scans the message base. For example if you enter 762+ PCBoard will begin scanning at message number 762 in the forward direction. |
| - | Scan in reverse direction. | When appended to the beginning message number you can set the direction in which PCBoard scans the message base. For example if you enter 3569- PCBoard will begin scanning at message number 3569 in the reverse direction. NOTE: PCBoard defaults to searching in the forward direction. |
| A | Scan selected conferences. | Scans not only the current conference but also those conference which you have set for scanning via the SELECT command or the S conference flag in the users record. |
| ALL | Scan all conferences. | Scans all conferences you are registered in even if you have not marked the conference for scanning. |
| F | Message from you. | Only messages that are from you, the user currently online, will be displayed. |
| L | Begin with last message in message base. | Sets the beginning message number to the last message in the message base. When you use this subcommand you may omit the beginning message number. |
| NS | Display in non-stop mode. | The listing of messages will be displayed in non-stop mode. This means that there will be no more? prompts each time the screen becomes full. |
| S | Messages that you have not read yet. | Searches only those messages that you have not read yet. |
| TS | Messages that contain particular text. | This subcommand enables you to search for text in the message body, the TO: field, and the FROM: field. You can search for a word/phrase or you can use any Boolean search. For more information on searching for text please see Searching For Text in the SysOp's Guide chapter of this manual. |
| USER | Messages from a particular user. | You may search the message header for a particular user. When PCBoard searches for a particular user it will search both the TO: and the FROM: fields in the message header. You must enter a full user name. Partial matches cannot be made with this command. |
| Y | Messages addressed to you. | Only messages that are addressed to the user that is currently online will be listed. |
Description
The 5 command can be used to quickly search message headers for information. This command will produce a list on the screen that shows such information as who the message is to and from as well as the subject of the message.
The only difference between the 5 command and the Q command is that the former will display active messages and also those messages which have been marked for deletion.
Format of the list
The list that is produced by the format contains the following information:
Sts. Displays the status of the message. An A indicates that the message is active while an I indicates that the message is inactive (marked for deletion).
| Msg# | The actual message number in the message base. Just before the message number is a status code that shows if the message has been read, etc. For a list of status codes please see the section titled Status Codes. |
| Ref# | If the message is a reply, then this field will contain the message number which was replied to. |
| To | Displays who the message is addressed to. Only the first 15 characters of the user name are displayed. |
| From | Displays who the message is from. Only the first 15 characters of the user name are displayed. |
| Subject | Displays the subject of the message. Only the first 25 characters of the subject are displayed. |
Status Codes
Next to each message number is a status code. You can use these status codes to determine if the message has been read, if it has replies, etc. The following is a list of all valid message status codes:
| [blank] | A message which can be read by anyone. | |
| ***|A private message to a specific person which has not been read by the person it was addressed to.| |+|A private message which has been read by the person it was addressed to.| |-|A message to a specific person, which was readable by anyone, which has been read by the person it was addressed to.| |~|A comment to the SysOp which has not been read by the person defined as SysOp record #1.| |`|A comment to the SysOp which has been read by the person defined as SysOp record #1.| |%|A message protected by sender password which has not been read.| | | |A message protected by sender password which has been read.| |!|A message protected by group password which has not been read.| |#|A message protected by group password which has been read.| |$** | A message protected by group password which is addressed to ALL. |
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Examples
To display the header information for all messages in the current message base in reverse order you would issue the following at the command prompt:
5 L
To search for all messages (beginning with the first message in the message base) either to or from a user named Wally Peterson you would issue the following at the command prompt:
5 USER WALLY PETERSON 1+