XLBIFF
Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: 14 October 1991
Index
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NAME
xlbiff - mailbox message previewer for X
SYNOPSIS
xlbiff
[ -option ... ]
DESCRIPTION
The
xlbiff
program lurks in the background, watching your mailbox file, waiting for
new mail. When mail arrives, it invokes the MH scan(1)
command and pops up a window with the results. Clicking the left mouse
button anywhere in this window makes it go away. The window will also
disappear if iconified or if the mailbox size drops to zero.
OPTIONS
Xlbiff
accepts all of the standard X Toolkit command line options along with the
additional options listed below:
- -help
-
This option indicates that a brief summary of the allowed options should be
printed on standard output.
- -bottom
-
This option tells
xlbiff
to realize/unrealize() the output window instead of using XtPopup/down().
This has the effect of causing the window manager to reposition the window
each time it pops up, and is useful for when you specify negative Y
coordinates, ie, at the bottom of the screen. Running
xlbiff
in this situation without -bottom would cause new lines to run off the
bottom edge of the screen.
- +bottom
-
Opposite of -bottom.
- -file filename
-
This option specifies the name of the file which should be monitored. By
default, it watches /usr/spool/mail/username, where username
is your login name.
- -rows height
-
This option specifies the maximum height, in lines of text, of the
xlbiff
window. The default is 20.
- -columns width
-
This option specifies the maximum width, in characters, of the
xlbiff
window. The default is 80.
- -resetSaver
-
If this option is set,
xlbiff
will reset the screen saver when new mail comes in. This is useful if
you're doing something near your workstation but not on it.
- +resetSaver
-
Opposite of -resetSaver.
- -update seconds
-
This option specifies the frequency in seconds at which
xlbiff
should update its display. The default is 15 seconds.
- -fade seconds
-
Number of seconds to wait before popping window back down. This option
can be used to monitor events of non-lasting importance, such as syslog
or UUCP queues. The default value of 0 disables the
fade
option.
- -led ledNum
-
This option specifies a keyboard LED to light up when there is mail waiting
in the file. The default is zero (do not light a LED).
- -ledPopdown
-
This option indicates that the LED should be turned off when xlbiff is
popped down. Ordinarily the LED stays lit to remind one of awaiting mail.
This option has no effect if the -led option is disabled.
- +ledPopdown
-
Opposite of -ledPopdown.
- -refresh seconds
-
This option specifies the number of seconds to wait before re-posting the
mail window after you acknowledge it, and it still contains the same mail.
The default is 0 (no refresh). A useful value for this is 1800 (30 minutes).
- -scanCommand command
-
Specifies a shell command to be executed to list the contents of mailbox
file. The specified string value is used as the
argument to a system(3) call and may therefore contain i/o redirection.
The command's stdout is used to generate the window.
Internally, the command is generated as
sprintf(buf, scanCommand, file, columns)
so a %s and %d respectively in scanCommand will generate the values
of file and columns. The default
scanCommand
is
scan -file %s -width %d
- -checkCommand command
-
Specifies a shell command to be executed to check for new mail (or some
other condition) rather than simply examining the size of the mail file.
The specified string value is used as the argument to a system(3)
call and may therefore contain i/o redirection. Like
xbiff,
an exit status of 0 indicates that a change in condition demands a new
evaluation of scanCommand and subsequent popup, 1 indicates no change
in status and 2 indicates that the condition has been cleared and the
xlbiff
window should pop down. By default, no shell command is provided.
This option may be useful to monitor logins (by checking update times
of /etc/utmp), using POP, and so forth. Let your imagination go wild!
- -volume percentage
-
This option specifies how loud the bell should be rung when new mail comes in.
The following standard X Toolkit command line arguments are commonly used with
xlbiff:
- -display display
-
This option specifies the X server to contact.
- -geometry +x+y
-
This option specifies the preferred position of the scan window.
- -bg color
-
This option specifies the color to use for the background of the window.
- -fg color
-
This option specifies the color to use for the foreground of the window.
- -xrm resourcestring
-
This option specifies a resource string to be used. This is especially
useful for setting resources that do not have separate command line options.
RESOURCES
The application class name is XLbiff.
It understands all of the core resource names and classes as well as:
- bottom (class Bottom)
-
Same as the -bottom option.
- file (class File)
-
Same as the -file option.
- scanCommand (class ScanCommand)
-
Same as the -scanCommand option.
- checkCommand (class CheckCommand)
-
Same as the -checkCommand option.
- resetSaver (class ResetSaver)
-
Same as the -resetSaver option.
- update (class Interval)
-
Same as the -update option.
- fade (class Fade)
-
Same as the -fade option.
- columns (class Columns)
-
Same as the -columns option.
- rows (class Rows)
-
Specifies the maximum height, in lines, of the
xlbiff
window. The default is 20.
- led (class Led)
-
Same as the -led option.
- ledPopdown (class LedPopdown)
-
Same as the -ledPopdown option.
- refresh (class Refresh)
-
Same as the -refresh option.
- sound (class Sound)
-
Specify a command to be run in place of a bell when new mail arrives.
For example, on a Sun Sparc you might use:
*sound: /usr/demo/SOUND/play -v %d /usr/demo/SOUND/sounds/doorbell.au
The command is generated internally with
sprintf,
so the characters ``%d'' will be replaced with the numeric value of the
volume
resource.
- volume (class Volume)
-
Same as the -volume option.
ACTIONS
Xlbiff
provides the following actions for use in event translations:
- popdown()
-
This action causes the window to vanish.
- exit()
-
This action causes
xlbiff
to exit.
The default translations are
<Button1Press>: popdown()
<Button3Press>: exit()
ENVIRONMENT
- DISPLAY
-
is used to get the default host and display number.
FILES
- /usr/spool/mail/username
-
default mail file to check.
SEE ALSO
X(1),
scan(1)
BUGS
specifying dimensions in -geometry causes badness.
The led option does not work on Suns before SunOS 4.1/X11R5.
AUTHOR
Ed Santiago, esm@auspex.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Xlbiff
took shape around the xgoodbye sample program
in the O'Reilly X Toolkit Intrinsics Programming Manual. A lot of
code was stolen from xbiff, including this man page. Thanks also
to Stephen Gildea (gildea@expo.lcs.mit.edu) for the many, many
contributions that made
xlbiff
grow from a midnight hack to a more mature product.
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- OPTIONS
-
- RESOURCES
-
- ACTIONS
-
- ENVIRONMENT
-
- FILES
-
- SEE ALSO
-
- BUGS
-
- AUTHOR
-
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
-
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Time: 11:28:17 GMT, February 07, 2023