User's Guide to the NUPOP Electronic Mail System 

This guide explains how to use the basic features of the NUPOP electronic mail program.  It assumes that the NUPOP program has been installed on your computer, and that the hardware and software necessary to connect your computer to the campus data network have been installed.  If you have any questions about your ethernet connection, contact your computer technical support representative.  A mouse and mouse driver are recommended, but not required.

Overview of Electronic Mail

Computers in educational institutions, government agencies and private businesses around the world are connected by a complex set of communication systems collectively referred to as INTERNET.  This connection enables computers to share information.  One of the services this sharing makes possible is the exchange of electronic mail messages between individual users.  Each person using the INTERNET has an ADDRESS that uniquely identifies him or her to the world.  

A typical INTERNET mail address looks like this:
	GREENMAN@STONEHENGE.UCR.EDU
GREENMAN is the name of the account on the "post office" computer that receives electronic mail for the user; STONEHENGE is the name of the post office computer; UCR is the name of the site or institution where the computer is located; and EDU identifies that site as an educational institution.

When electronic mail is sent to an individual using INTERNET, the mail is sent to an internet address.  Much as ordinary mail is routed from place to place using city names, states and zip codes, electronic mail is routed to the proper site and computer according to the INTERNET address.  When the mail is received by the post office computer, it is stored there until the user reads it.

How NUPOP Works

NUPOP is designed to automate the process of reading and sending electronic mail using INTERNET.  It works much like an ordinary post office box.  You go to the post office, get the contents of your box, and take the mail home where you read it at your convenience.  You then write whatever letters you want to send, take them to the post office, and drop them in the mail slot.  The amount of time you spend at the post office is minimal.  NUPOP works the same way.  It connects to the post office computer and quickly transfers your mail to your personal computer where you can read it without tying up the resources of the post office computer.  You then compose mail using NUPOP and send it all at once.  You are only connected to the post office computer while NUPOP is actually sending or acquiring mail, and once NUPOP has acquired your mail, the resources of the post office computer used to store that mail are released for use by other users.

How NUPOP is Set Up on your Computer

NUPOP is generally installed on your hard disk, in a directory called C:\NUPOP.  Within the NUPOP directory are a number of program files, and also several subdirectories.  Your mail messages are stored in these subdirectories, which have an .MBX extension.  The NUPOP directory is also used to hold files that are transferred by NUPOP, or by the FTP and GOPHER modules (more on these later).   If you lose track of your mail or download files, this is where to look for them.

Using NUPOP

While a mouse is not required to use NUPOP, it simplifies issuing commands.  This guide will assume that you have a mouse.  To select an item with the mouse, simply point to the item and press the LEFT mouse button.  To cancel a particular selection, either select the CANCEL button, or click on the small green "close" square in the upper left corner of the box.  IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A MOUSE: notice that each menu item or button has one character highlighted, or presented in a different color.  Pressing the ALT key and, at the same time, the highlighted letter, is equivalent to selecting the item with the mouse.  Pressing ALT and the F3 key is equivalent to selecting the "close" square.  The ESC key will generally also closes boxes or cancel commands.

Starting NUPOP

If your computer has a menu system, you can start the NUPOP program by typing the letter or number of the NUPOP item and pressing the ENTER key.  Otherwise, change to the NUPOP directory by typing CD C:\NUPOP and pressing ENTER; then type NUPOP and press ENTER.  Note: NUPOP can be run in a DOS window if you are using Microsoft Windows 3.0 or 3.1.

When the NUPOP program starts, it displays a box that shows you user name,  your full name, and a blank line for your password.  You should type in the password for your mail account and press ENTER.  Several screens will quickly flash by as NUPOP sets itself up.  The display stops on a screen with a light blue background, waiting for your commands.  Note that you can press the F1 key at any time for help, and ALT-X to quit.

Reading Your Mail

This first screen is called the INDEX screen.  To get your mail messages from the post office computer, select the ACQUIRE button.  NUPOP will display a small box while it connects to the post office, showing how many messages you have.  When mail retrieval stops, the index screen will show a numbered list of mail messages, along with the address of the sender and the subject of the message.  Using the mouse or the arrow keys, you can move up and down, or side to side, through the list of messages.

Notice that the top message is highlighted by a green bar.  You can move the green bar either with the mouse or with the arrow keys.  To read the highlighted message, select the VIEW button.  The VIEW screen will appear.  The top of the screen shows information about who sent the message; the message itself is displayed in the lower part of the screen.  If the message runs off the bottom or side of the screen, use the arrow keys or the mouse and scroll bars to read the complete message. 

The VIEW screen presents several options, some of which will be discussed in  subsequent sections.  For now, you can delete the message by selecting the DELETE button, read the NEXT or PREVIOUS messages by choosing the appropriate buttons, or return to the INDEX screen.

Printing Your Messages

Printing is done from the INDEX screen.  To print your messages, highlight the message you want to print and either press the space bar, or double click with the mouse.  A check mark will appear next to the message.  You can select more than one message for printing at a time by placing check marks next to the messages you want to print.  Select the PRINT button to print the messages.

By the way, the letters next to the message indicate its status: N is a new message you haven't read, no letter means you have read it, R means you have replied to it.

Saving Your Messages

You will probably want to save some of your messages, separating them according to subject, sender, or some other scheme.  NUPOP makes this easy to do.  At the top of the INDEX screen, right above the DELETE button, notice the word IN.  The index screen is displaying your IN mailbox, the subdirectory where NUPOP places your newly received mail.  You can move messages out of the IN mailbox into some other subdirectory using the TRANSFER button.  To move a message, place a check mark next to it using the space bar or the mouse; you can select more than one message to be transferred at a time if you wish.  Then choose the TRANSFER button.  A box appears listing your existing mailboxes on the left.  The mailboxes that come with NUPOP are:

	IN: where mail received from the post office computer is stored;
	OUT: where mail you have composed is stored until it is sent;
	SENT: where mail you send is copied, if you have selected the "Keep Copy of Sent Mail" 			option;
	TRASH: where deleted messages are stored until they are erased. (If you 					accidentally delete a message, here's where you will find it).

You can highlight the mailbox where you want the message stored and press ENTER or click OK.  If you want to create a new mailbox for the message/s, click on the MAILBOX NAME box or press ALT-N, then type the name (up to 8 characters) of the new mailbox and press ENTER.  Your messages will be transferred to the new box.

To read messages saved in a mailbox, choose the MAILBOX option from the menu at the top of the screen, and CHANGE MAILBOX from the pull-down menu.  A box similar to the transfer box will appear, from which you can select the mailbox you want to view.  The index screen will appear, showing a list of messages in the mailbox you selected.

In addition to saving your messages as NUPOP mail messages, you can also save them as text files, to be used with word processors.  To save one or more messages to a text file, place a check mark in front of the message/s using the INDEX screen and space bar (or mouse).  Then, from the top menu bar, choose Messages.  Choosing "Save To File" saves the entire message, including the address information, while choosing "Write to File" saves only the text of the message/s.  Specify the entire path and file name where you want the message/s saved, i.e., C:\FILES\MAIL.TXT.

Sending Messages

Sending messages is done from the COMPOSE screen, which is activated by the COMPOSE button.  There are three blue boxes on the COMPOSE screen.  The upper box is for the addresses of the individuals to whom you are sending the messages.  There are three options for addressing mail.  TO, selected by ALT-T or clicking with the mouse, is for the INTERNET addresses of the recipients.  You should specify addresses in proper INTERNET format, i.e., GREENMAN@STONEHENGE.UCR.EDU, and you may send to more than one address either by separating the addresses with commas, or by typing the addresses on separate lines.  The CC option is for other addresses to receive the message, and the BlCC (Blind CC) option is for sending the message to other recipients without their address appearing on the message.

Pressing TAB will move you to the Subject line.  You should always enter a subject for your message, as many people who receive large volumes of mail routinely DO NOT READ messages without subjects!

Pressing TAB again moves you to the text area, where you type in the text of your message.  The text editor has basic word wrap and insertion/deletion, but they are not fancy.  Word wrap does not work properly if you insert text in an already filled line.

To send your message, you can choose the SEND NOW option to send the individual message.  More often, if you will be sending and/or replying to several messages, choosing the QUEUE option is more time efficient.  QUEUE places your composed message in a mailbox that is used to send all of your messages and replies at once.  You send everything in the queue using the SEND QUEUED button; alternatively, if you try to quit NUPOP and you have queued messages, NUPOP will ask you if you want to send them before quitting.

Replying and Forwarding Messages

Replying to, and forwarding messages are done from the VIEW screen.  When you REPLY to a message, the composer screen appears, showing the address of the person who sent the message in the TO: box, along with the text of the message in the TEXT box.  You can then type in new text in the text box and SEND or QUEUE the message.  Unless you specify otherwise in the Options menu, NUPOP will always include the text of the sent message in the reply.  You can delete all or part of this text either with the DELETE key, or by highlighting the part of the text you want to delete with the mouse and pressing the DELETE key.

FORWARD works much like reply, except that the TO: line is left blank.  You can type in the address of the person to whom the message is to be forwarded in the TO: box, and add additional comments if desired in the text box.  The message can then be SENT or QUEUED.

You now know the basics of using NUPOP for sending and receiving electronic mail!  NUPOP is a complex program with many advanced features.  In the next section, some of those features are discussed.  Keep in mind that for help on any function within NUPOP, selecting that function and pressing the F1 key will bring up a help screen for that function.

Using Mail Groups (Aliases)

You may have a list of people to whom you regularly send copies of the same message, such as faculty members, department heads, etc., or there may be someone with a difficult to remember internet address to whom you frequently send mail. In either case, NUPOP lets you define a group name, sometimes called an "alias", and link that name to an address or set of addresses.  By sending mail to the group name, NUPOP automatically inserts the correct INTERNET address/es without your having to type (or remember) them.

To create a group name, select the GROUP item from the bar at the top of the screen, and the MAKE GROUP item from the pull-down menu.  The "Make Group" box appears.  Choose ADD... to create a new group.  Type in the name for the new group and press ENTER.  Then type in the address (or addresses) in INTERNET format.  To enter more than one address, press ENTER after typing in each address.  Select the OK box, either with the mouse or with the TAB key, to create the group.

You can remove groups by selecting GROUP/Make Group, highlighting the group name, and selecting the REMOVE button.  You can edit or change addresses in the group by selecting GROUP/MakeGroup, highlighting the desired group, pressing the TAB key to move the cursor into the Definition box, and using the arrow keys and DELETE key to change addresses.

To send mail to a group name, start the COMPOSER screen.  Choose the GROUP button; the group box will appear.  Highlight the group you want, and select the DONE button.  To send to more than one group, highlight each group name and choose the  SELECT button for each group; select the done button when finished. 

If you have set the "Expand Group Names When Sending" option, the composer screen will show the group names in the TO: box; if this option is not set, you will see that the group name has been expanded into a list of all the members of the group/s you selected.

Sending and Receiving Files with NUPOP

Very often you will want to send files along with mail messages.  These files may be in the form of simple text files or word processing documents.  There are two ways to accomplish the sending of files.

You can send a simple text file as a mail message.  To do this, bring up the COMPOSER screen, fill out the address and subject boxes, and place your cursor in the text box.  Choose the MESSAGE item from the top menu bar, and the Append From File option from the pull-down.  The file selector box will appear.  You can type in the complete path to the file you want to send, i.e., C:\FILES\MYFILE.TXT and press ENTER -- the file will be copied into the text box.  Or you can type in a partial path, such as C:\FILES\ and press ENTER; the selector box will show a list of files in the directory you specified, from which you can select a file by highlighting and press ENTER.

Files that are not simple text, such as Word Perfect documents, must be sent as "enclosures", which do not appear as part of the mail message itself.  To send an enclosure, start the COMPOSER screen, fill out the To and Subject boxes; you might also want to add some text describing the file you are sending.  Now choose the ENCLOSURES button, and the ENCLOSURES screen appears.  If you are sending a simple text file, choose the ADD TEXT button.  A selector box appears, from which you can choose a file to send.  Note that you can send more than one file "enclosed" with an individual mail message.

Sending non-text files is more complicated, because INTERNET uses special procedures to handle such files.  Examples of non-text files are programs, word processor documents, graphics, and .ZIP files.  To send these, you must choose either the BINHEX or UUENCODE methods.  BINHEX is commonly used with Macintosh computers (and also by NUPOP), UUENCODE is almost exclusively used by UNIX computers.  Note that the person receiving the file must have means by which the file can be decoded.  Most educational institutions have programs for decoding both kinds.  Enclosing a BINHEX or UUENCODEd file works with the same selector box described above.  You can send any combination of TEXT, BINHEX, or UUENCODE files.

When you send a message with an enclosure, the file is sent as an entity separate from the message itself.  Note that the file is not read by NUPOP until it is sent, so if you are enclosing a file located on a diskette, be sure not to remove the diskette until the file is sent!

If someone sends you a BINHEX, UUENCODED or TEXT file, NUPOP will decode the file appropriately and place it in the ENCLOSURES directory, usually C:\NUPOP.

Using Signatures

"Signatures" are small text files added to the end of all mail messages that can provide useful information about the author such as title, address, and so forth.  If you create a signature file and turn on the signature option, the contents of the signature file will be added to each mail message as it is sent.

To create a signature file, choose OPTIONS from the top menu and Signature from the pull-down.  Type whatever text you want in the box, and press ENTER.  To turn on the signature option, choose OPTIONS from the top menu, Preferences and Messages from the pull-downs, place an X in the "Append Signature" box using the space bar, and press ENTER.  You can change the contents of the signature using OPTIONS/Signature, and you can turn off the signature file by un-checking the box in OPTIONS/Preferences/Messages/Append.

Automatically Acquiring Mail

You can tell NUPOP to automatically check the post office computer for new mail at some specified time interval.  Note that if you choose this option, unless you are running NUPOP as a DOS window in Microsoft Windows, you will be unable to use your computer for anything else while NUPOP is operating.  Choose the MAILBOX menu from the top bar, and Timed Mail Acquisition from the pull down.  Enter a time interval and press ENTER.  NUPOP will wait the specified interval, connect to the post office computer, and collect your mail.  It will then wait for the specified interval and repeat the procedure.  To end automatic acquisition, press the ESC key.

Using the ClipBoard

NUPOP provides a clipboard facility similar to the one found in Microsoft Windows.  It is easiest to use with a mouse.  To copy text to the clipboard, highlight the text by placing the mouse cursor at the beginning to the text you want, pressing the left button, and dragging the mouse so that all the text you want is in the colored box.  Release the mouse button, and choose EDIT/Copy.  To Paste the text, place the cursor where you want the text and choose EDIT/Paste.  This feature is especially useful for pasting addresses obtained from the PH server (see below).  To use the keyboard to cut and paste text, place the cursor over the first character you want to highlight, and, while holding the SHIFT key down, press the arrow keys to highlight the desired text.

Other Utilities Provided with NUPOP

In addition to electronic mail, NUPOP provides several other INTERNET programs that can be useful.  Some of these are discussed below.

Gopher

Gopher is an INTERNET information retrieval system, in which information stored in the form of text files on various computers can be made available.  Other services, such as library catalogs, on-line journals, and file archives are also to be found on Gopher.  Selecting GOPHER from the UTILITY menu starts the Gopher program.  The menu that appears is for the local Gopher system.  You choose an item from the menu by highlighting it and pressing ENTER.  Using the available buttons, you can return to previous menus, cancel your gopher session and return to NUPOP, or save information to a file.  If asked to specify a file name, be sure to specify the complete path to the file you want to save.

PH

In some installations, an electronic phone book is available.  To use this, choose PH from the UTILITIES menu.  You will be asked to specify a string to search for; this could be someone's last name, part of a last name, a first name, a department, etc.  Choose the Lookup button, and the windows will display the results of the search.  Choose cancel to close the window.  This is (sometimes) useful for finding INTERNET addresses.

Terminal (TELNET) Session

NUPOP has a built-in terminal function that allows you to connect directly to a host computer.  This is useful for using remote programs such as MELVYL.  Before using the Terminal utility, you need to make sure it is set up properly for the computer you want to communicate with.  Choose the OPTIONS item from the top bar, then choose Emulation.  Make sure VT100 is checked.  To communicate with a VAX, the "Backspace sends Delete" must be checked YES, whereas to communicate with MELVYL, it must be checked NO.  The ESC key ends the emulation setup.  To start your terminal session, choose the UTILITY item from the top menu bar, then TERMINAL from the pull-down.  Enter the name of the computer you want to communicate with in the appropriate box; for MELVYL, type MELVYL, for the UCR C&C VAX Cluster, type UCRAC1.  Pressing the ENTER key starts your terminal session.  You can exit your terminal session by logging out of the remote computer system, or close the terminal window with ALT-F3 or clicking on the green close box.  Note that the ClipBoard copy-and-paste works in the terminal window.

Internet File Transfer (FTP)

NUPOP supports the FTP file transfer protocol, which allows you to directly transfer files between your computer and another computer set up for FTP.  Most commonly, this feature is used to transfer program files from an archive site directly to your hard disk.   To do this kind of transfer, select the UTILITY item from the top menu bar, and XFER FILES WITH FTP from the pull-down.  You will be asked to enter the name of the remote computer; this can be entered as an internet name, i.e., UCRAC1.UCR.EDU, or as an IP number, i.e., 138.23.225.12.  When you press enter, NUPOP will try to connect to the remote computer.  If it is successful, you will be asked for a user name.  For most "open" archive sites, this is usually anonymous (must usually be in lower case letters).  When prompted for a password, enter your email address.  You can then use ordinary DOS commands like DIR and CD to locate the file/s you want.  To transfer a file to your computer, first BE SURE to issue the command binary if you are transferring a program or other non-text file.  Then type get filename, where filename is the name of the file you want.  NUPOP will copy the file from the remote computer into your C:\NUPOP directory.  To leave the FTP program, type CLOSE or QUIT.