Xref: utzoo comp.mail.misc:2954 comp.unix.questions:19940 news.newusers.questions:1494
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!usfvax2!tct!chip
From: chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.misc,comp.unix.questions,news.newusers.questions
Subject: Re: Controlling Biff
Message-ID: <25DAB477.FB1@tct.uucp>
Date: 15 Feb 90 13:53:58 GMT
References: <1579@husc6.harvard.edu>
Organization: ComDev/TCT, Sarasota, FL
Lines: 41

According to schisto@popvax.harvard.edu (]none):
>    I would very much like to control the "biff" command.  As i've
>seen in the 4.3BSD manual and our on-line Ultrix 3.0 manual, i only
>have the option of turning biff on or off.  The control i seek would
>ideally allow me to set biff to write to screen as much of the incoming 
>message as i would like.

As usual, you can do it with Deliver 2.0.  My .deliver file -- the
shell script that controls mail delivery, each user can create one --
notifies me when mail arrives.  Here it is:

	# Delivery for Chip
	PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/u/local/bin ; export PATH
	user="$1"
	echo $user
	for tty in `who | awk '$1 == "'"$user"'" { print $2 }'`
	do
	    f="`header -f from $HEADER`"
	    [ "" != "$f" ] || f="$SENDER"
	    m="Hey!  You have new mail from $f."
	    echo "\n>>> $m <<<\n" >>/dev/$tty 2>/dev/null
	done

If you want the header, or specific fields thereof, you can add some
commands.  Use:

	cat $HEADER >>/dev/$tty

for the whole header, or:

	header -n -f from -f to -f subject $HEADER >>/dev/$tty

for those specific fields.  Possible actions on mail delivery are
limited only by the imagination.

Deliver 2.0, at finer archive sites everywhere.

Not Just Another Deliver Hacker,
-- 
Chip Salzenberg at ComDev/TCT     <chip@tct.uucp>, <uunet!ateng!tct!chip>
         "The Usenet, in a very real sense, does not exist."