How to use the command compose (with examples)

The compose command is an alias for the run-mailcap action “compose”. It is used to compose an email message with the given file. By default, it opens the system’s default mail compose tool with the file as an attachment. This command can be useful when you want to quickly send a file as an email attachment.

Use case 1: Compose any existing file or new file on default mailcap edit tool

Code:

compose filename

Motivation: Suppose you have an existing file called “example.txt” that you want to send as an email attachment. You can use the compose command to quickly open your system’s default mail compose tool with the “example.txt” file as an attachment.

Explanation:

• compose: The command invokes the compose action of run-mailcap.
• filename: The name of the file you want to attach to the email.

Example output:

• The system’s default mail compose tool opens with the “example.txt” file attached. You can then write the email message and send it.

Use case 2: Compose file using run-mailcap

Code:

run-mailcap --action=compose filename

Motivation: If the compose alias is not available or you prefer to use run-mailcap directly, you can use the --action=compose option to achieve the same functionality.

Explanation:

• run-mailcap: The command used to specify the action and open the default mail compose tool.
• --action=compose: The compose action to open the compose tool.
• filename: The name of the file you want to attach to the email.

Example output:

• The default mail compose tool opens with the “filename” file attached. You can compose the email and send it.

Conclusion:

The compose command provides a convenient way to open the default mail compose tool with a file attached for sending it as an email attachment. Whether you use the compose alias or the run-mailcap command with --action=compose, you can easily compose emails with file attachments.