Node:Executing Shell Commands, Previous:Executing Other Mail Commands, Up:Composing Mail
The ~!
escape executes specified command and returns you to
mail
compose mode without altering your message. When used without
arguments, it starts your login shell. The ~|
escape pipes the
message composed so far through the given shell command and replaces the
message with the output the command produced. If the command produced
no output, mail
assumes that something went wrong and retains
the old contents of your message.