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newalias(1)

HP-UX 11i Version 3: February 2007
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NAME

newalias — install new elm aliases for user or system

SYNOPSIS

newalias [-g]

Remarks

newalias replaces the former functionality of the elmalias command.

DESCRIPTION

The newalias command creates new alias database files from an alias text file for use by elm and other programs. For user aliases, this functionality can also be performed from the Alias Menu of the elm program (see elm(1)).

Options

newalias recognizes the following option:

-g

Global. The program updates the system alias files instead of a user's alias files.

Operation

Without the -g option, newalias updates a user's alias files, based on an input file named

$HOME/.elm/aliases.text

Upon finding the file, it creates the output files named

$HOME/.elm/aliases $HOME/.elm/aliases.dir $HOME/.elm/aliases.pag

With the -g option, newalias updates the system alias files, based on an input file named

/var/mail/.elm/aliases.text

Upon finding the file, it creates the output files named

/var/mail/.elm/aliases /var/mail/.elm/aliases.dir /var/mail/.elm/aliases.pag

In either case, you need read access to the aliases.text file and write access to the other files and the .elm directory.

Text File Entries

Each entry in either aliases.text file is expected to be in the following format:

  • alias-list = [lastname [; firstname]] [, comment] = address-list

Field Names

The field names are defined as follows:

address-list

A blank- or comma-separated list of one or more mail addresses, personal alias names, and/or group alias names.

In practice, each item is tested first as an alias name. If it is not an alias name, it is assumed to be a mail address. A mail address can be in Internet form (user@host.domain), in UUCP form (host.domain!user), or in sendmail alias form (see sendmail(1M)). It can also be the name of a local mail user, which is appended with the local host name in Internet form.

alias-list

A blank- or comma-separated list of alias names. Each name identifies the same alias entry. An alias name can be made up of letters (A-Z, a-z), digits (0-9), underscores (_), dashes (-), and periods (.). Alias names are not case-sensitive, so dave and Dave are equivalent.

comment

A string containing any information you wish about the entry, such as location and phone numbers. It is displayed in the Alias Menu of the elm program, but elm does not transmit it in a mail message. This field can contain any characters except an unquoted equal sign (=). See the Quoting Characters subsection.

firstname

The first name of the person (or group). It is combined with lastname to form the fullname. This field can contain any characters except an unquoted equal sign (=) or an unquoted comma (,). See the Quoting Characters subsection.

The only first name under the Personal or Group Aliases subheading below is: John in Smith; John.

lastname

The last name of the person (or group). It is combined with firstname to form the fullname. This field can contain any characters except an unquoted equal sign (=), an unquoted semicolon (;), or an unquoted comma (,). See the Quoting Characters subsection.

The last names under the Personal or Group Aliases subheading below are: Dave Taylor, Smith, Unix Gurus, and Unix people.

fullname

The combination of firstname lastname. It is usually sent in a mail header in parentheses after the address. It is also displayed in the Alias Menu of the elm program and by the elmalias command (see elm(1) and elmalias(1)).

Delimiters

The delimiters have the following precedence:

  • The first and second equal signs (=) mark the end of the alias-list and the beginning of the address-list, respectively. Both equal signs are required.

  • The first comma (,) after the first equal sign and before the second equal sign marks the beginning of the comment field.

  • The first semicolon (;) after the first equal sign and before the next comma or second equal sign marks the beginning of the firstname field.

Personal or Group Aliases

A personal or individual alias has only one address in address-list, as in:

dave, taylor = Dave Taylor = taylor@company.com j_smith = Smith; John, 408-555-1212 =johns@pocahontas.gov

A group alias has two or more addresses in address-list, as in:

gurus = Unix Gurus = alan, john, dave, mike, richard, larry, t_richardson unix = Unix people = gurus, taylor, jonboy

Other Rules

Entries can be continued over several lines; the continuation lines must start with a blank (a space or tab).

A comment is any line starting with a number sign (#). It is ignored.

Blank lines and comments can be interspersed within entries.

Quoting Characters

You can include normally excluded characters in firstname, lastname, comment, and mail addresses in address-list by escaping each character with a backslash (\) or by enclosing the string in quotation marks ("). To include a quotation mark or a backslash, escape it with a backslash, whether inside or outside quotation marks.

FILES

$HOME/.elm/aliases

User alias database data table

$HOME/.elm/aliases.dir

User alias database directory table

$HOME/.elm/aliases.pag

User alias database hash table

$HOME/.elm/aliases.text

User alias source text

/var/mail/.elm/aliases

System alias database data table

/var/mail/.elm/aliases.dir

System alias database directory table

/var/mail/.elm/aliases.pag

System alias database hash table

/var/mail/.elm/aliases.text

System alias source text

AUTHOR

newalias was developed by HP.

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