answer(1)

answer(1)

NAME

answer - phone message transcription system

SYNOPSIS

answer [-pu]

DESCRIPTION

The answer interactive program helps you to transcribe telephone (and other) messages into electronic mail.

The program uses your personal elm alias database and the system elm alias database, allowing you to use aliases to address the messages.

Options

answer supports the following options:

-pPrompt for phone-slip-type message ®elds.

-uAllow addresses that are not aliases.

Operation

answer begins with the Message to: prompt. Enter a one-word alias or a two-word user name ("Words" are separated by spaces.) The user name is converted to an alias in the form f_lastword, where f is the ®rst character of the ®rst word, lastword is the second word, and all letters are shifted to lowercase. For example, Dave Smith is converted to the alias d_smith.

Without the -uoption, the speci®ed or converted alias must exist in the alias databases. With the -uoption, if the processed "alias" is not in the alias databases, it is used for the address as is.

The fully expanded address is displayed.

With the -poption, you are asked for typical message slip data:

Caller:

of:

Phone:

TELEPHONED

-

CALLED

TO SEE YOU

-

WANTS

TO

SEE YOU

-

RETURNED

YOUR CALL

-

PLEASE

CALL

-

WILL CALL

AGAIN

-

*****URGENT******

-

Enter the appropriate data. You can put just an X or nothing after the pertinent dash prompts, or you can type longer comments. Whatever you enter becomes part of the message. Lines with no added text are omitted from the message.

Finally, you are prompted for a message. Enter a message, if any, ending with a blank line. The message is sent and the Message to: prompt is repeated.

To end the program, enter any one of bye, done, exit, or quit, at the Message to: prompt.

EXAMPLES

User input is in normal type.

With No Options

This example shows a valid alias, an invalid user name, and a valid user name. In the invalid case, the converted alias is displayed in square brackets.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Message to: oswald

address 'oswaldr@mycompany.com (Oswald Rarebit)'

Enter message for oswald ending with a blank line.

a

HP-UX Release 11i: December 2000

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