BIFF(1) — UNIX Programmer’s Manual
NAME
biff − be notified if mail arrives and who it is from
SYNOPSIS
biff [ yn ]
DESCRIPTION
Biff informs the system whether to send notification when mail arrives during the current terminal session. The command
biff y
enables notification; the command
biff n
disables notification. When mail notification is enabled, the header and first few lines of the message are printed on the 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(1) or csh(1).
SEE ALSO
csh(1), sh(1), mail(1), mail (4)
BUGS
4th Berkeley Distribution — @(#)biff.11.1%Q%%Y%