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Copyright 1998 - 2009 Double Precision, Inc.  See COPYING for distribution
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--></head><body><div class="refentry" title="courierfax"><a id="id513467" shape="rect"> </a><div class="titlepage"/><div class="refnamediv"><h2>Name</h2><p>courierfax — Send faxes via E-mail</p></div><div class="refsynopsisdiv" title="Synopsis"><h2>Synopsis</h2><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">sendmail</code>  [<em class="replaceable"><code>5558888</code></em>@fax]</p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">sendmail</code>  [<em class="replaceable"><code>5558888</code></em>@fax-lowres]</p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">sendmail</code>  [<em class="replaceable"><code>5558888</code></em>@fax-ignore]</p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">sendmail</code>  [<em class="replaceable"><code>5558888</code></em>@fax-cover]</p></div></div><div class="refsect1" title="DESCRIPTION"><a id="id513271" shape="rect"> </a><h2>DESCRIPTION</h2><p>
The <code class="literal">courierfax</code> module (if enabled by the system
administrator) sends E-mail messages by fax.
Addressing an E-mail message to the address <code class="literal">5558888@fax</code>
faxes a printed copy of the message to the specified phone
number.</p><p>
The ability to send faxes may be restricted, or not available.
The E-mail message
may be a MIME-formatted message.  All attachments are concatenated and
sent together in a single fax transmission.
<code class="literal">courierfax</code> only knows how to handle certain kinds of
attached.  Obviously, trying to fax a voice <code class="literal">.mp3</code>
attaching is not going to work.
<code class="literal">courierfax</code> knows how to handle plain text, Postscript,
and PDF MIME attachments.
<code class="literal">courierfax</code> might also know what to do with other
kinds of attachment,
depending on some optional software installed by the
system administrator.
<code class="literal">courierfax</code> may also be able to read <code class="literal">GIF</code>,
<code class="literal">PNG</code>, and <code class="literal">JPEG</code> images.</p><div class="note" title="Note" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
Color images are converted to black-and-white.</p></div><p>
Images are faxed with one image per fax page
(limiting image sizes to about 1600x2200).</p><p>
The message will be returned as undeliverable
if <code class="literal">courierfax</code> doesn't know how to handle a
MIME attachment.
If the first MIME section in the E-mail message is plain text, the text
appears on the fax cover page.  The sender/recipient information for the
cover page is taken from the message's headers.</p><p>
The default <code class="literal">courierfax</code> configuration tries to resend
the fax for up to eight hours, after which the message is returned as
undeliverable.
The message will also be returned as undeliverable if the fax
transmission is interrupted.  The return bounce will state how many pages
were successfully transmitted.</p><p>
"<code class="literal">@fax</code>" may also be followed by additional keywords that
specify extra options:</p><div class="variablelist"><dl><dt><span class="term">-lowres</span></dt><dd><p>
Send a low-resolution fax.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">-ignore</span></dt><dd><p>
Ignore any attachment types that <code class="literal">courierfax</code> doesn't
understand.</p></dd><dt><span class="term">-cover</span></dt><dd><p>
Send a cover page only.
This is useful in limited situations, with something like this
in a
<a class="ulink" href="dot-courier.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">dot-courier</span>(5)</span></a>
file:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting" xml:space="preserve">
 ./Maildir
 ! 5552222@fax-cover
</pre></div><p>
This <code class="filename">.courier</code> file faxes the contents of a message,
sans any attachments, immediately upon receipt in addition to saving the
message in the mailbox.</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1" title="FAX TRANSMISSION RECEIPT"><a id="id512399" shape="rect"> </a><h2>FAX TRANSMISSION RECEIPT</h2><p>
The sender will receive
a fax transmission receipt if the sender requests an ESMTP
delivery status notification.
This is the <code class="option">-N</code> option to
<a class="ulink" href="sendmail.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">sendmail</span>(8)</span></a>:</p><div class="informalexample"><pre class="programlisting" xml:space="preserve">
sendmail -Nsuccess 5556666@fax &lt;messagefile
</pre></div><p>
When using other mail software, consult the mail software's documentation
for instructions on requesting ESMTP delivery status notifications.</p></div><div class="refsect1" title="ADDITIONAL DIALING OPTIONS"><a id="id512437" shape="rect"> </a><h2>ADDITIONAL DIALING OPTIONS</h2><p>
<code class="literal">courierfax</code> configurations that are generated by the
<span class="command"><strong>webadmin</strong></span> tool for North American environments
usually restrict phone numbers to a standardized ten-digit telephone number,
so that the fax address is always
&lt;<em class="replaceable"><code>aaabbbcccc</code></em><code class="literal">@fax</code>&gt;,
and <code class="literal">courierfax</code> silently performs any needed conversion
to dial the number (such as adding <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">1</span>”</span> or dropping the local
areacode).</p><p>
It is also possible to reconfigure <code class="literal">courierfax</code> so that it
accepts any telephone string and dials it without any preprocessing.
If so, the address may contain any combination of digits, letters
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">A</code></span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">B</code></span>”</span>,
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">C</code></span>”</span>, and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">D</code></span>”</span>, representing the four extra
dialing tones
not normally accessible from most telephone keypads,
the symbols
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">*</code></span>”</span> and
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote"><code class="literal">#</code></span>”</span>, or the following
characters:</p><div class="variablelist"><dl><dt><span class="term"><span class="keycap"><strong>W</strong></span></span></dt><dd><p>
Most faxmodems pause and wait for a secondary dialtone, before dialing
the rest of the number.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><span class="keycap"><strong>-</strong></span></span></dt><dd><p>
The dash is replaced by a comma in the dialing string.
A comma results in most faxmodems pausing for two or three seconds
before dialing the rest of the number.
It is not possible to enter a comma directly, because commas are used
to separate multiple E-mail addresses.
Use dashes instead of commas in the dialing string.
<code class="literal">courierfax</code> replaces all dashes with commas before
dialing the faxmodem.</p></dd><dt><span class="term"><span class="keycap"><strong>+</strong></span></span></dt><dd><p>
Similarly, <code class="literal">courierfax</code> replaces all pluses with
<span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@</span>”</span> characters before dialing.
An <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@</span>”</span>
characters results in most faxmodems waiting for the line to be silent for
five seconds before dialing the rest of the number.
It is not possible to enter a <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@</span>”</span> directly as part of the
telephone number itself, for the obvious reasons.
Use pluses  instead of <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@</span>”</span>s in the dialing string.
<code class="literal">courierfax</code> replaces all pluses with <span class="quote">“<span class="quote">@</span>”</span> before
dialing the faxmodem.</p></dd></dl></div></div><div class="refsect1" title="CONFIGURATION"><a id="id512759" shape="rect"> </a><h2>CONFIGURATION</h2><p>
The slightly arcane configuration file,
<code class="filename">@sysconfdir@/faxrc</code>, sets up which dialing strings are
valid.
The default configuration file contains judicious comments that explain
all the parameters, and what they do.
The default configuration file disables <code class="literal">courierfax</code> by
rejecting all telephone numbers.
The file must be edited in accordance with the embedded instructions, in order
to enable faxing.</p><p>
Using <span class="command"><strong>webadmin</strong></span> is highly recommended.
Upon demand, <span class="command"><strong>webadmin</strong></span> will install a suitable configuration
file for the North American numbering plan, that receives all telephone numbers
as ten-digit numbers, and adds any required long distance prefix, or removes
the local area code, as appropriate.
Or, <span class="command"><strong>webadmin</strong></span> will install a bare-bones configuration file
that dials any requested phone number, without any editing or
transformation.</p></div><div class="refsect1" title="BUGS"><a id="id512807" shape="rect"> </a><h2>BUGS</h2><p>
There is no good way to sleep until a modem lock is released, so we poll
every minute.</p></div><div class="refsect1" title="SEE ALSO"><a id="id512818" shape="rect"> </a><h2>SEE ALSO</h2><p>
<a class="ulink" href="courier.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">courier</span>(8)</span></a>.</p></div></div></body></html>
