comsat(1M)                                             comsat(1M)



     NAME
          comsat - server for biff(1)

     SYNOPSIS
          /usr/etc/in.comsat

     DESCRIPTION
          comsat is the server process which receives reports of in-
          coming mail and notifies users if they have requested this
          service.

          comsat receives messages on a datagram port associated with
          the biff(1) service specification (see services(4N)) for one
          line messages of the form

               user@mailbox-offset

          If the user specified is logged in to the system and the as-
          sociated terminal has the owner execute bit turned on (by a
          biff y), the offset is used as a seek offset into the ap-
          propriate mailbox file and the first 7 lines or 560 charac-
          ters of the message are printed on the user's terminal.
          Lines which appear to be part of the message header other
          than the From, To, Date, or Subject lines are not included
          in the displayed message.

     FILES
          /usr/etc/in.comsat
          /etc/utmp

     SEE ALSO
          biff(1), services(4N).

     BUGS
          The message header filtering is prone to error.  The density
          of the information presented is near the theoretical
          minimum.

          Users should be notified of mail that arrives on machines
          other than the one to which they are currently logged in.

          The notification should appear in a separate window so it
          does not interfere with the screen.












     April, 1990                                                     1