Getting around in owl

Owl indicates the current message with an arrow that looks like this: ->. To move up and down from message to message, use the up and down arrows. To scroll the screen from side to side, use the right and left arrow keys.

Replying to a message is simple: simply select the message you want to reply to using the up or down commands, then type r. Type your message, then send it with Control-D or a dot (.) on a line by itself.

To delete a message, mark with with the d key, and a D will appear to the left of the message. To undelete a message, select it with the arrow keys and type u. Messages will not be removed from owl until you perform an expunge. x expunges all messages marked for deletion.

Here are some more message manipulation controls. Note that in Unix, ``C-*'' is a shorthand way of saying ``Control-*'' or ``press and release the control key then this key.'' Similarly ``M-*'' is shorthand for ``press and release Meta then this key''. If you don't have a Meta key on your keyboard, the Esc will work the same way. Holding down Alt, then the specified key, then releasing both also replicates the Meta functionality.

Moving between messages

     n		  move to the next non-deleted message
     p		  move to the previous non-deleted message
     C-n or down  move to the next message
     C-p or up	  move to the previous message
     <		  move to the first message
     >		  move to the last message
     C-v          page down
     M-v          page up
     right        scroll the screen to the right
     left         scroll the screen to the left
     P            move to the next personal message
     M-P          move to the previous personal message

You can also use the up and down arrow keys to move up and down from message to message.

Deleting, undeleting, and expunging messages

     d		  mark a message for deletion
     u		  unmark a message for deletion
     x		  expunge deleted messages
     T		  mark all `trash' messages for deletion
     M-D          mark all messages in the view for deletion
     M-u          unmark all messages in the view for deletion

Replying to messages

Beyond your basic ``reply'' command, owl has some other reply functions.

     r            Reply.  Personal messages get a personal reply,
                       group messages get a group reply.
     R            Reply to sender.  Always replies personally
                       to the sender.
     M-r          Reply but allow editing of the command line.
     M-R          Reply to sender but allow editing of the
                       command line.

Manipulating windows within owl

Pressing M on a selected message brings it into a separate popup window. Within that window, you can further navigate the message with these commands.

     SPACE        page down
     b            page up
     RETURN       line down
     BACKSPACE    line up

(The message pointer will change to indicate that the message is not starting at the first line.)

To get more detailed information about a particular message (such as the host the message was sent from, or a more precise time stamp), type i with the message selected instead of M.