biff(TC)
biff --
notify if mail arrives and who it is from
Syntax
biff [ y ] [ n ]
Description
biff informs the system whether you want to be
notified when mail arrives during the current terminal session.
The command biff y enables
notification; the command biff n disables it.
When mail notification is enabled, the header and first few
lines of the message will be printed on your screen
whenever mail arrives.
A biff y command is often
included in the file .login or
.profile to be executed at each login.
biff operates asynchronously. For synchronous
notification use the MAIL variable of
sh(C)
or the mail variable of
csh(C),
if your system has csh.
Limitations
Mail notification only works if your system is running
sendmail(ADMN)
and
lmail(ADMN).
See also
comsat(ADMN),
mailx(C),
sh(C)
Standards conformance
biff is conformant with X/Open Portability Guide, Issue 4, 1992.
© 2005 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
SCO OpenServer Release 6.0.0 -- 02 June 2005