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.


Nupop User's Guide, page 10.     Revised 6/12/93