Skip Navigation
 Search | Directories | Reference Tools
UW Home > UWIN > Admin Gateway > Introduction to Nebula > Tips and Tricks 

Using PC-Pine in Nebula

PC-Pine Features
Saving Your Password to Disk
Helpful Configuration Settings
Tips and Troubleshooting:
Finding the right Address
Using Attachments
Handling Crashes and Errors
Using the Dictionary, Groups, and Spell-check
Creating a Signature block
Moving and Printing messages
Putting your information in the UW Directory
Handling Duplicate messages
Searching for messages
Pine Classes and Online Resources

PC-Pine features

Nebula currently includes PC-Pine 4.58, which is the supported way to read email and Usenet news; its icon is a green pine tree. Its command menus and feature set are very similar to versions of Pine which run on Unix hosts, with some distinct advantages:

Saving Your Password to Disk

PC-Pine normally requires you to log in to get access to your inbox. Since Nebula forces you to log in even before you can run PC-Pine, the PC-Pine login is redundant. To avoid having to log in twice, run PC-Pine, enter your login name and password as requested, then answer 'y' to the request to save your password on disk. Because the password is encrypted and is stored on your H: drive, your email is still secure.

Under this configuration, your Nebula PC has access to your email whenever it is logged into the network. It is important to log out when you are away from your PC, or at least to enable a screen saver with a password.

Helpful Configuration Settings

Pine can be configured to suit your personal preferences, both in the Unix version and the PC-Pine version. To change the configuration, select 'S' from the Main Menu and then choose 'C'. Some popular options are (hint: to search for the proper place, use Ctrl-W and then enter the search text):

To change your color setup, use M(enu), S(etup), K(olor), and hit Enter to make changes to the Normal Color field. To re-set all colors to the default color scheme, use M - S - K - R(estore defaults).

Tips and Troubleshooting

Addresses:
Finding the right address. When you type an email address that isn't found in the UW Directory, PC Pine doesn't tell you it couldn't find the address. Instead, it attempts to send the message by adding a domain name, usually @u.washington.edu, onto the end of what you've typed. If the email address is actually a good address, and the reason it doesn't exist in the UW Directory is because the user hasn't requested that it be listed there, your message will go through just fine. But if you've actually typed a wrong address, you'll eventually get a message saying your email did not go through, and you'll have to re-send it.
To have PC Pine notify you when it can't find an address:
  • From anywhere in Pine, type M(enu) - S(etup) - C(onfiguration).
  • Scroll to the Composer Preferences area, and X the "compose-rejects-unqualified-addrs" line.
If PC Pine says it can't find an address:
  • Add @u to the end of the email name.
  • You may wish to request that these folks add themselves to the directory; the directions are in the Directory section below.
Attachments:
Where are attachments saved to/searched for?
Specify the desired directory:
  • Use M(enu) - S(etup) - C(onfiguration) to display your options.
  • Use Ctrl-W to bring up the search window and type in file-dir and hit Enter; this will bring you to the file directory line.
  • Type C(hange value), backspace over whatever's in there, and type your desired directory, perhaps h:\pcfiles.
  • Hit Enter to write the change, type E(xit) and Y(es) to save changes.
I can't read certain attachments.
  • For Adobe Acrobat files, try installing the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • For jpg and other graphic files, try changing PC Pine's configuration file: M(enu), S(etup), C(onfiguration), then use Ctrl-W to open a search window and type image-viewer. Change the value of that field to "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE".
Can I drag an attachment to a PC Pine message?
  • Yes. Compose a message, and then either re-size the Pine window so you can also see other programs, or minimize it.
  • Open Windows Explorer, find the attachment, and drag and drop it into PC Pine. If you've minimized it, hover the mouse over the minimized program until it opens, and then release the mouse to add the attachment.
Crashed: How can I recover a message I was writing when PC Pine crashed?
Restart Pine and see if C(ompose) gives you an I(interrupted) option. If not, check your H: drive for a file that is named dead.letter or #pico*.txt. Also check for c:\nebula\#pico*.txt. (The * represents any combination of letters or numbers; these file names are assigned randomly by the computer.)
Dictionary: Where is my PC Pine dictionary stored and how can I change it?
The dictionary is located at c:\program files\pine\u.dict. When you run spell-check (Ctrl-T) from within PC Pine, you have the option to add unrecognized words to the dictionary.
Directory: How do I add myself to the UW Directory?
  • Log into MyUW
  • On the My Front Page tab, scroll down to click the Employee Self Service link.
  • Click Address, and then in the Campus Address box, click the Change button.
  • In the UW Directory Listing Preference, choose a listing that includes your email address, and click Save.
Duplicate messages: how I can delete duplicate copies of messages?
  • Go to the Email Delivery Manager page:
    • From the MyUW page, go to the Email box (right side); or
    • Use this link.
  • Under Views (left column), click Advanced Options.
  • Select Enable Duplicate Elimination, and then click Update Advanced Options.
  • If a page won't display, use the browser Back button; there may be a problem with PubCookie.
Error messages: about I: or other network drives
Log out and log back in; there's probably been some kind of network connectivity problem.
Error messages: can't find NebPine.exe
It will also display a button that says Locate or Browse:
  • Locate: Click Locate and then maneuver to c:\program files\pine, and click OK.
  • Browse: Click Browse and then maneuver to c:\program files\pine and select NebPine.exe and click OK.
Error messages: Password error messages
PC Pine uses your UWNetID password, not your Nebula password. It's ok to save your password to disk.
Group messages: I want to send to a group of people, but to show only the name of the group, not all the individual names.
Create your group and begin composing your message. While in the header, use Ctrl-H to display additional fields, and put the name of your group in the Lcc: field.
Moving messages: how do I send messages to another person, or to a file folder?
You can bounce designated email messages to another email address; they arrive as individual messages. Or you can export messages to a .TXT file; the file will contain the text of all the messages, strung together. You can also save copies of messages to other folders.
  • To select (or unselect) a message, type a colon.
  • Type A(pply) then:
    • B(ounce): will ask for the email address to which the emails should be forwarded.
    • E(xport): will display a suggested destination directory; you just need to type in a filename. To change the destination directory, use Ctrl-T to open the directory window and then maneuver to the directory of choice before typing in your filename.
    • S(ave): will ask for the folder name; to pick it from a list, use Ctrl-T to go to your list of folders.
  • To then delete the moved messages from your Inbox, use Ctrl-X to expunge them and then Yes to confirm.
Printing: prints too big
Within Pine, you can change the printer font:
  • Click on "Config" near the top of the PC Pine window.
  • Click "Set Printer Font" and choose what you want.
If you have a check next to "Printer same as window font", click that line again to uncheck it. The Set Printer Font won't be available if this line is checked. Many times folks will have large type on the screen for easy reading, and if this line is checked, the print out font will be pretty big, too.)
Search: How do I search for a particular message or particular words in a message?
Hitting L from within your Inbox should display all your folders. From here:
  • To search through all the displayed folders: Type ;tc and type the search text. All folders containing emails with that text will have an X next to them.
  • To search one folder, open that folder: Type ;ta and type the search text. The display of messages will change to show only those which contain the search text.
In either case, to turn off the search criteria, use ;a.
Signature block:
You can have one signature block, which will add itself to the end of all your email messages:
  • M(enu) - S(etup) - S(ignature)
  • Create your signature block, and use Ctrl-X to save it.
Spellcheck:
Spell-check your messages automatically before sending:
  • M(enu) - S(etup) - C(onfigure)
  • Under "Composer Preferences", put an X next to "spell-check-before-sending". ,/li>
  • E(xit) then Y(es) to save. Exit Pine and restart it.

Pine Classes and Online Resources

UW Technology regularly offers several different classes about Pine. See the UW Computer Training Catalog for details.

The Pine Information Center provides lots of detailed help on using Pine. There is an online tutorial for Pine, called Getting Started with Email Using Pine.

Help specific to PC-Pine also is available.