Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!julius.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!njin!princeton!dae!pfalstad
From: pfalstad@dae.Princeton.EDU (Paul John Falstad)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Can I adjust the output from "biff"?
Message-ID: <2912@idunno.Princeton.EDU>
Date: 28 Sep 90 17:14:53 GMT
References: <21623@duke.cs.duke.edu>
Sender: news@idunno.Princeton.EDU
Organization: Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Lines: 43

In article <21623@duke.cs.duke.edu> jfw@neuro.duke.edu (John Whitehead) writes:
>Is there a way that I can make it so my "biff" announcements are briefer?

>I am running SunOS 4.1, which I guess is a Berkeley variation.  Thanks.

Interesting.  We have SunOS 4.1, but biff doesn't work.

Well, if you're really desperate, you could just create your own biffer,
like I had to do, since biff doesn't work on our system.  Here it is:

---cut here---
#! /bin/sh
(cat; echo EOF) | (echo '
----
New mail has arrived:
'; sed 20q; echo ---- ) >/dev/`(who;
echo \`whoami\` null) | grep \`whoami\` | sed 1q | awk '{ print $2 }'`
exit 0
---cut here---

Put this in your private bin directory (say in /u/foobar/bin/biffer)
and create a .forward file like this:

\foobar, | /u/foobar/bin/biffer

And use biff n in your .login.  Now you can change biffer to do whatever
you want with the message.  If you just want to know that new mail has
arrived without seeing it, you could just do:

#! /bin/sh
echo 'You have new mail.' >/dev/`(who;
echo \`whoami\` null) | grep \`whoami\` | sed 1q | awk '{ print $2 }'`
exit 0

Or else you could filter out the header of the mail message.

There is probably an easier way, since you have comsat working, but this
works for me.

Here is the address to complain to:
pfalstad@phoenix.princeton.edu PLink:HYPNOS GEnie:P.FALSTAD CIS: 70016,1355
That address again,
sync@thumper.princeton.edu PLink:OHS738 GEnie:OHS738 CIS: 4128 143 1234 937