.TH POST 1 
.SH NAME
post \- send mail to users by name
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B post
[
.B \-w
]
person ...
.PP
.B post
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I post
translates people's real names to addresses
and sends mail.
If used with
.I person
arguments, it collects the standard input up to EOT or a line
containing only a single `.' character.
It expects
each
.I person
argument to be either a form recognized by
.IR mail (1)
or
.IP
[firstname.[middlename.]]lastname[:location][:department]
.LP
where every part except
.I lastname
may be abbreviated to a prefix.
If the person identified is known to have a computer address,
the collected input is sent there; otherwise paper mail is printed
and routed to a clerk for forwarding.
.PP
From most computers
.I post
routes mail through a central post office; diagnostic
messages will be returned by mail.
.PP
If the
.I person
argument is ambiguous, a list of possibilities is printed
and you are asked to choose the desired person.
The
.B \-w
option gives the address, but sends nothing.
.PP
To maintain mailing lists or avoid typing long addresses,
you may keep an address book in $HOME/lib/post.addr.
Each line in the file begins with an alias or mailing list name which
is followed by one or more
.I person
arguments.
.PP
.I post
with no
.I person
arguments invokes
.I mail
to read your mail.
The environment parameter
.I MAILP
may be used to specify the
.I mail
invoked;
otherwise it is
.I /bin/mail.
To update 
.I post's
directory with a new or secondary address mail the following
statement to alice!mailroom.
.PP
UPDATE:	computer!uid	cmd	first.init.last:loc:dept
.PP
.I cmd
may be IS, ANOTHER or WAS.
IS makes the computer id the home address,
ANOTHER, a secondary address, and WAS deletes it.
It expects the name to be identical to that in the BTL phone book.
.SH FILES
.ta \w'/usr/lib/post/post.test\ \ 'u
/usr/spool/mail/*	mailboxes
.br
/tmp/ma*	temp file
.br
dead.letter	unmailable text
.br
$HOME/lib/post.addr	user address book
.br
/crp/post/tmail.?	address lists
.br
/crp/post/tuid.?	userid lists
.br
/usr/lib/post/genpost	general postoffice
.br
/usr/lib/post/post.test	test "no run" program
.SH "SEE ALSO"
mail(1)
.br
`Electronic Mail Without Aliases,' by R. J. Elliott and
M. E. Lesk