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From: jdpeek@RODAN.ACS.SYR.EDU (Jerry Peek)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.mh
Subject: Re: xbiff with automagic-incing
Message-ID: <9010261417.AA21847@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
Date: 26 Oct 90 14:17:29 GMT
References: <sun-barr!newstop!exodus!ichthous.Eng.Sun.COM!mcgrew@rutgers.edu> <1736@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM>
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Darin McGrew <mcgrew@Eng.Sun.COM> wrote:
> In article <72800001@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu> mark@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu writes:
> >Anyone out there care to share with me how you would use xbiff to
> >monitor ~/mail/mh/1, to consider it true?  If the file dne, my xbiff
> >breaks down and never shows up (I guess it wants a file of length 0??)
> 
> What I would do instead of having xbiff look at at your +inbox,
> is use the checkCommand resource of xbiff to give it a command
> that returns 0, 1, or 2 (new mail, no change, or mail cleared).
> I've done this to teach xbiff to check both news and notes, and
> it works fine.  All you have to do is supply the appropriate
> checkCommand.

One easy thing to check is the inbox folder itself.  In other words, check
the directory file /<your-home-directory>/Mail/inbox.  If a new message is
added to the folder, the directory file itself will be modified.

I don't know how that would work with 'xbiff'.  But I used that trick
with the C-shell's '$mail' variable once:
	set mail = (60 /usr/spool/mail/jdpeek /etc/motd /some/directory)
and if the '/some/directory' directory was modified, the shell would say:
	New mail in /some/directory.

--Jerry Peek; Syracuse University Academic Computing Services; Syracuse, NY
  jdpeek@rodan.acs.syr.edu, JDPEEK@SUNRISE.BITNET        +1 315 443-3995