OSF

NAME

biff − Notifies users when mail arrives

SYNOPSIS

biff [y | n]

DESCRIPTION

The biff command informs the system whether you want to be notified when mail arrives during the current terminal session.  The following command enables notification:

biff y

The following command disables notification:

biff n

When mail notification is enabled, the From:, To:, Date:, and Subject: header lines and the first seven lines or 560 characters of the message are displayed.  The biff y command is often included in the $HOME/.login or $HOME/.profile file to be executed each time you log in. 

The biff command operates asynchronously.  For synchronous notification, use the MAIL variable of sh or ksh, or the mail variable of csh. 

EXAMPLES

     1.To display the current setting, enter:

biff

     2.To be notified during the current terminal session whenever mail arrives, enter the following in your $HOME/.login or $HOME/.profile file:

biff y

FILES

$HOME/.loginRead by login shell (after .cshrc) at login. 

$HOME/.profileUser profile. 

RELATED INFORMATION

Commands:  comsat(8), csh(1), ksh(1), mail(1)/binmail(1), mailx(1)/Mail(1), sh(1).