Provided by: hylafax-client_6.0.7-11.1_amd64 
NAME
faxmail - HylaFAX mail-to-fax gateway application
SYNOPSIS
faxmail [ options ] [ destination [ from ] ]
DESCRIPTION
faxmail takes an electronic mail message on standard input and submits it as a facsimile to a HylaFAX
server for transmission.
faxmail is designed for use in constructing electronic mail to facsimile gateway services. For example,
mail aliases may be created to automatically transmit electronic mail; e.g.
sam: "|/usr/bin/faxmail sam@5551212"
or faxmail may be used as a ``mail transport agent'', extracting the necessary delivery information
directly from the envelope of the mail message.
FORMATTING
faxmail formats a mail message according to the following rules: First it parses the envelope information
interpreting any meta-header information (see below) that is present. Once the entire envelope has been
collected it emits a formatted set of header lines. By default all header information except the
``From'', ``To'', ``Cc'', ``Subject'', and ``Date'' lines are discarded. Header lines that are kept have
the tag (the string to the left of the ``:'') set in a bold font and the value (the string to the right
of the ``:'') set in an italic font. Mail messages that conform to the Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) specification are parsed and handled according to the rules given below. Plain text
body parts of a mail message are formatted in a text font with any long lines wrapped at word boundaries
unless the -c option has been specified.
By default, faxmail sets all text in 10 point type on an 8.5" by 11" portrait-oriented page with .35" top
margin, .25" bottom margin and .25" left and right hand margins. There are command-line options to
control the point size, page dimensions, orientation, and multi-column formatting. Text formatting can
also be controlled through meta-header directives placed in the envelope of the mail message.
ENVELOPE PROCESSING
faxmail pre-processes the envelope information (i.e. the header lines) before formatting the message
contents. Header lines whose names begin with ``X-FAX-'' (case-insensitive) are handled specially-they
are treated as command directives that specify how to generate the resultant POSTSCRIPT or, optionally,
how to deliver the resulting document as facsimile. The set of known meta-headers corresponds to the set
of configuration parameters defined below. A meta-header is specified as ``X-FAX-parameter'' where
parameter is the name of a configuration parameter; e.g. ``X-FAX-TabStop'' to set the number of spaces
between tab stops.
Controls for specifying headers to be passed through in the formatted text identify not only which
headers but also the order in which the headers should be emitted. faxmail initializes the set of
headers to retain to: ``To From Subject Cc Date''. If this order is acceptable then additional headers
can simply be added with the X-FAX-Headers directive; e.g. ``X-FAX-Headers: Message-id''. If however a
different order is desired then the header set should be cleared with a ``clear'' header tag and then
completely specified in the desired order; for example,
X-FAX-Headers: clear Message-id Date To Subject From Cc
will cause headers to be emitted in the order ``Message-Id Date To Subject From Cc'' (depending on what
headers are present). Note in particular that all header lines in the envelope can be suppressed by
specifying ``X-FAX-Headers: clear''; this is useful, for example, when the body of the mail message
contains a preformatted document that is to be transmitted.
In addition to the above controls, faxmail can also be instructed to substitute an arbitrary string for a
header tag when generating the final envelope. This facility can be used to better format ad-hoc header
information that is passed through the envelope of the message. The ``X-FAX-MapHeader'' meta-header
specifies how to map a header line. For example,
X-FAX-MapHeader: x_FAX_For Deliver FAX To
would cause any header ``x_FAX_For'' that appeared in the envelope to be replaced in the formatted
envelope by ``Deliver FAX To''.
MIME PROCESSING
faxmail parses MIME mail messages and does some rudimentary work to:
• decode encoded parts,
• formats the message and text parts into a Postscript document
• insert ``digest dividers'' between multipart/digest subparts,
• format message/rfc822 parts as described above for the top-level envelope, and
• submit all other attached documents to be faxed.
MIME processing is fairly simple and (currently) somewhat constrained. faxmail has builtin support for
the following MIME parts: text/plain, multipart/mixed, multipart/digest, message/rfc822,
application/postscript, and application/x-faxmail-prolog. Parts can also be processed through external
processing scripts that faxmail looks for in a ``MIME converters'' directory hierarchy. External scripts
may override builtin processing or suppliment the builtin support. For each MIME body part with type T
and subtype S faxmail checks first for an executable script named T/S in the converter hierarchy. If a
script exists then it is run and the resulting output is saved as a document submitted to HylaFAX. If
the output is empty, the part is suppressed, and will not be submitted. All other parts will be saved as
documents and submitted to HylaFAX. faxmail uses the typerules(5). mechanism to convert file formats
into one of the format HylaFAX supports.
The builtin handling support is as follows: text/plain parts are formatted using the default text font
and point size; multipart/mixed are ``burst'' and interpreted per the specification but are otherwise
unformatted; multipart/digest are burst and an optional ``digest divider'' marking may be inserted before
each subpart; message/rfc822 are formatted as described above with envelope header lines culled and
formatted with bold and italic fonts (in addition, if there is insufficient space in the current output
page/column for the message envelope, optional divider, and one line of text, then faxmail will insert a
``break'' so the the message starts at the top of the next page/column); application/postscript are
copied through untouched to the output; application/x-faxmail-prolog are copied through untouched to the
end of the prologue section of the generated PostScript document to permit customization of the formatted
output.
faxmail supports the following Content-Transfer-Encoding schemes: 7bit, 8bit, binary, base64, quoted-
printable, and x-uuencode. Any character set that is not us-ascii is treated as iso-8859-1.
SERVER DELIVERY
When faxmail is invoked it delivers the formatted document directly to a HylaFAX server for transmission
as facsimile. Command line arguments may be supplied to specify the delivery destination and sender
identity; typically from information extracted by the mail transport facility. A command line
destination is specified with the same syntax as the argument for the -d option to the sendfax(1)
command. Similarly any from identity specified on the command line follows the same rules as the -f
option to sendfax. An explicit dialstring to use in delivery can also be specified with an X-FAX-
Dialstring header in the mail message envelope. If no sender identity is provided on the command line
then faxmail will extract it from the ``From'' line in the envelope. faxmail will not submit a message
for delivery if either the dialstring or sender identity is missing or null.
X-FAX- header lines may be included in the mail message envelope to control the submission and delivery
process. As above these lines are specified as ``X-FAX-parameter'' where parameter is the name of a
configuration parameter for the sendfax program; e.g. ``X-FAX-VRes'' to set the vertical resolution of
the transmitted facsimile. By default automatic cover page generation is enabled when direct delivery is
used; this can be overridden with the -n option on the command line or by including an X-FAX-
AutoCoverPage header in the message envelope.
OPTIONS
-1 Set text in one column (default).
-2 Set text two columns.
-b font Make font, a POSTSCRIPT font name, the ``bold font'' used to set header lines. The default
bold font is Helvetica-Bold.
-c Clip long text lines instead of wrapping them at page margins.
-C cover Use the cover page template file specified by cover.
-f font Make font, a POSTSCRIPT font name, the text font used to set the body of mail messages. The
default text font is Courier.
-H height Use height as the height, in inches, of the output page. The default page height is taken from
the default page size.
-i font Make font, a POSTSCRIPT font name, the ``italic font'' used to set header lines. The default
italic font is Helvetica-Oblique.
-Ml=#,r=#,t=#,b=#
Set the page margins; the default margins are: left and right .25 inch, top .35 inch, bottom
.25 inch.
-n Suppress auto cover page generation.
-N Suppress formatting of mail envelope headers.
-p size Set all text using size for the font point size.
-r Set pages rotated by 90 degrees (in ``Landscape mode'').
-R Set pages unrotated (in ``Portrait mode'').
-s size Set the page size to use. Cover pages are normally generated using a system-default page size
(usually letter-size pages, 8.5" by 11", for sites in North America). Alternate page sizes are
specified symbolically using either the name or abbreviation of an entry in the pagesizes(5)
database; e.g. a3 (ISO A3), a4 (ISO A4), a5 (ISO A5), a6 (ISO A6), b4 (ISO B4), na-let (North
American Letter), us-leg (American Legal), us-led (American Ledger), us-exe (American
Executive), jp-let (Japanese Letter), and jp-leg (Japanese Legal). Comparisons are case-
insensitive and any match of a substring of the full page-size name is sufficient; e.g.
``legal'' would match ``American Legal''.
-t notify Specify the notify value to use
-T Trim leading blank lines from text parts. If the text part is completely empty, it will
effectively be skipped.
-u user Set the user name to use when logging in to do direct delivery. By default the user is
specified by the MailUser configuration parameter (see below). If a null user name is
specified, then the facsimile will be submitted using the identity of the user that invoked
faxmail.
-v Enable tracing of envelope, MIME, and job submission processing. Diagnostic information is
written to the standard error (envelope and MIME processing) and standard output (job
submission).
-W width Use width as the width, in inches, of the output page. The default page width is taken from
the default page size.
CONFIGURATION PARAMETERS
faxmail reads configuration information from the files /etc/hylafax/hyla.conf,
/etc/hylafax/sendmail.conf, /etc/hylafax/faxmail.conf, and ~/.hylarc; in that order. Configuration files
follow the conventions described in hylafax-client(1). In addition to the formatting configuration
parameters below, all of the parameters listed in the sendfax(1) man page apply as well.
The following configuration parameters are recognized to support formatting:
Tag Type Default Description
AutoCoverPage boolean Yes automatically generate cover page
BoldFont string Helvetica-Bold font for setting header tags
Columns integer 1 number of columns in formatted output
DigestDivider string - multipart/digest divider POSTSCRIPT command
FontPath string see below directory for font metric files
GaudyHeaders boolean No enable/disable gaudy page headers
Headers string see below headers to retain in envelope
ISO8859 boolean Yes use ISO 8859-1 character encoding
ItalicFont string Helvetica-Oblique font for setting header values
LineWrap boolean Yes wrap/truncate text lines
MailUser string - user identity for doing direct delivery
MarkDiscarded boolean Yes mark discarded MIME body parts
MapHeader string - define header mapping
MIMEConverters string see below pathname of MIME converter scripts
Orientation string portrait orientation of text on page
OutlineMargin inches 0 width of outline line
PageCollation string forward collate pages in forward or reverse direction
PageHeaders boolean Yes enable/disable page headers
PageHeight float - output page height
PageMargins string see below margins for formatted page
PageSize string default output page size from database
PageWidth float - output page width
Prologfile string see below pathname of POSTSCRIPT prologue file
TabStop integer 8 inter-stop setting in characters
TextFont string Courier name of font for setting text
TextLineHeight inches - text formatting line height control
TextPointSize inches see below size to use in setting text
Verbose boolean No trace envelope and MIME processing
Values marked as inches are specified using a syntax that identifies one of several possible units:
#.##bp big point (1in = 72bp)
#.##cc cicero (1cc = 12dd)
#.##cm centimeter
#.##dd didot point (1157dd = 1238pt)
#.##in inch
#.##mm millimeter (10mm = 1cm)
#.##pc pica (1pc = 12pt)
#.##pt point (72.27pt = 1in)
#.##sp scaled point (65536sp = 1pt)
Unit names can be upper or lower case but no white space is permitted between the number and the unit.
Values specified with no unit are interpreted as points.
The configuration parameters are explained below. Most parameters correspond to a command line option.
Parameter values identified above as inches are converted according to the conventions described above.
AutoCoverPage Control whether or not a cover page is automatically generated for each job.
BoldFont The name of the font to use to set header tags (i.e. the string to the left of the ``:'').
Columns The number of columns to set text in. (Equivalent to the -m option.)
DigestDivider The string to emit in the output before each subpart of a multipart/digest mail message.
This string is typically a POSTSCRIPT procedure that draws a mark of some sort. Dividers
are expected to use no more vertical space on the output page than a line of text.
FontPath The path where Adobe Font Metric (AFM) files are located; by default
/usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfonts.
GaudyHeaders Control whether or not to use a gaudy-style page header. Enabling gaudy headers
implicitly enables page headers.
Headers Define the headers retained from the envelope and specify the order that they should be
emitted in the formatted output. The set of headers is initialized to ``To From Subject
Cc Date''. Headers specified are appended to this list except for a ``clear'' header that
causes the current set of headers to be discarded.
ISO8859 Control the use of ISO 8859-1 encoding in the generated POSTSCRIPT
ItalicFont The name of the font to use to set header values (i.e. the string to the right of the
``:'').
LineWrap Control whether long text lines are wrapper or truncated at the right hand margin.
(Equivalent to the -c option.)
MailUser The account name to use to login to a fax server when doing direct delivery. Note that
this account name is not used for the identity of the sender; this comes from the command
line or the ``From'' line in the mail message. If a null account name is specified, then
the facsimile will be submitted using the identity of the user that invoked faxmail.
MapHeader Define a substitution for the specified header that should be done each time the header is
emitted in the formatted envelope. Header tags are matched in a case-insensitive manner.
MarkDiscarded Control whether discarded MIME parts are replaced by a text message indicating the
original content was removed.
MIMEConverters The pathname of a directory hierarchy that has scripts for external processing of MIME
body parts. The default pathname is /usr/sbin/faxmail.
Orientation Control whether pages are oriented horizontally (``landscape'') or vertically
(``portrait''). (Equivalent to the -r and -R options.)
OutlineMargin Control whether columns of text have a line drawn around them and the width of the line.
Setting this parameter to 0 disables outlines.
PageCollation Control whether the output file has pages collated in the same order as the input file
(``forward'') or in reverse order (``reverse).
PageHeaders Control whether page headers are generated.
PageHeight Set the output page height (in inches).
PageMargins Set the output page margins. Margins are specified as string of the form:
``l=#,r=#,t=#,b=#'' where l indicates the left margin, r indicates the right margin, t
indicates the top margin, b indicates the bottom margin, and numbers are interpreted as
inches. (Equivalent to the -M option.)
PageSize Set the output page dimensions by name. (Equivalent to the -s option.)
PageWidth Set the output page width (in inches).
PrologFile The pathname of a file containing POSTSCRIPT that should be included in the prologue
section of the generated POSTSCRIPT. The default prologue file is
/etc/hylafax/faxmail.ps.
TabStop Set the tab stop distance (in characters).
TextFont Set the name of font to use for setting text. (Equivalent to the -f option.)
TextLineHeight Set the vertical text line height and spacing.
TextPointSize Set the point size to use in setting plain text. (Equivalent to the -p option.)
Verbose Control tracing envelope and MIME processing.
NOTES
Because a sender's identity in an electronic mail message is inherently untrustworthy, using faxmail to
build a mail to fax gateway is problematic. Unless mail service is somehow restricted or the sender's
identity is verified using a mechanism such as RFC 1847's multipart/signed MIME type there is no reliable
way to restrict access to facilities setup with faxmail.
BUGS
Only the last instance of a header is kept and written to the output. This means, for example, that only
the last of many ``Received'' lines will be included in the formatted output.
FILES
~/.hylarc per-user configuration file
/etc/hylafax/pagesizes page size database
/etc/hylafax/faxmail.ps POSTSCRIPT prologue
/etc/hylafax/hyla.conf system-wide configuration file
/etc/hylafax/faxmail.conf system-wide configuration file
/etc/hylafax/sendfax.conf system-wide configuration file for direct delivery
/usr/sbin/faxmail hierarchy for external MIME converters
/usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfontsfor font metrics
/var/spool/hylafax/tmp/faxmailXXXXXXtemporary files
SEE ALSO
hylafax-client(1), textfmt(1), sendfax(1)
July 22, 1996 FAXMAIL(1)