There are several commands that let you read messages.
The read and review commands display messages and leave you at the R> prompt, known as Read Mode, where you can issue commands about the message you just read.
The read command by itself means read unseen, so you can give the command simply as read or r, to see new messages.
To see old messages, use the read command followed by a message sequence describing what messages to read. The review command is the same as read but requires a message sequence.
MM>read 73
Message 73 (378 chars) Return-Path: <jb51> Received: by cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (5.59/FCB) id AA01344; Monday, 7 Sep 92 10:50:29 EDT Date: Monday, 7 Sep 92 10:50:28 EDT From: Joe Brennan <jb51@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> To: fb2 Cc: mm33, hk12 Subject: Meeting on Sept 21 Message-Id: <CMM.0.90.2.673023028.jb51@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Let's meet on Sept 21 at 2:00 to go over plans for this semester. Joe R>
The purpose of Read Mode, indicated by the prompt R>, is to give you a chance to tell MM what to do with the message you just read. The original read command establishes a set of messages that MM will display for you. If you typed the command simply as read, that means the set of unseen messages; otherwise you specified the messages with a message sequence, like read 1-6 or read from joe. At the R> prompt, pressing the return key, without typing a command, tells MM to read the next message in the original message sequence, until there are no more, when it takes you back to the MM> prompt.
The command type just displays a message, without going to the R> prompt. With no message sequence, type shows the current message.
MM>type 73 Message 73 (378 chars) Return-Path: <jb51> Received: by cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (5.59/FCB) id AA01344; Monday, 7 Sep 92 10:50:29 EDT Date: Monday, 7 Sep 92 10:50:28 EDT From: Joe Brennan <jb51@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> To: fb2 Cc: mm33, hk12 Subject: Meeting on Sept 21 Message-Id: <CMM.0.90.2.673023028.jb51@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Let's meet on Sept 21 at 2:00 to go over plans for this semester. Joe MM>
The commands next and previous are variants of type. They change the current message to the next or previous message, respectively, and then type the message.
If you have set the variables dont-type-headers or only-type-headers to hide some header fields when reading messages, you can use the command literal type to override those restrictions and show all the header fields. If no headers are hidden, then literal type is the same as type. The command literal by itself is taken to mean literal type.
The browse command is an alternative way to read messages. It shows you modified headers of each message first, and you can choose to read the message or go on to the next one. Browsing is similar to some systems that read bulletin boards. The browse command without a message sequence means browse unseen.
You generally would browse a set of messages. The following shows the first screen of a browse session:
MM>browse 73:180
73) Joe Brennan Meeting on Sept 21 --378 chars; More?--
Type a question mark at the More?-- prompt, to see what responses are possible.