XLBIFF(1)XLBIFF(1)NAMExlbiff - mailbox message previewer for X
SYNOPSISxlbiff [ -option ... ]
DESCRIPTION
The xlbiff program lurks in the background, watching your mailbox file,
waiting for new mail. When mail arrives, it invokes the MH scan(1)
command and pops up a window with the results. Clicking the left mouse
button anywhere in this window makes it go away. The window will also
disappear if iconified or if the mailbox size drops to zero.
OPTIONS
Xlbiff accepts all of the standard X Toolkit command line options along
with the additional options listed below:
-help This option indicates that a brief summary of the allowed
options should be printed on standard output.
-bottom This option tells xlbiff to realize/unrealize() the output win‐
dow instead of using XtPopup/down(). This has the effect of
causing the window manager to reposition the window each time
it pops up, and is useful for when you specify negative Y coor‐
dinates, ie, at the bottom of the screen. Running xlbiff in
this situation without -bottom would cause new lines to run off
the bottom edge of the screen.
+bottom Opposite of -bottom.
-file filename
This option specifies the name of the file which should be mon‐
itored. By default, it watches /var/mail/username, where user‐
name is your login name.
-rows height
This option specifies the maximum height, in lines of text, of
the xlbiff window. The default is 20.
-columns width
This option specifies the maximum width, in characters, of the
xlbiff window. The default is 80.
-resetSaver
If this option is set, xlbiff will reset the screen saver when
new mail comes in. This is useful if you're doing something
near your workstation but not on it.
+resetSaver
Opposite of -resetSaver.
-update seconds
This option specifies the frequency in seconds at which xlbiff
should update its display. The default is 15 seconds.
-fade seconds
Number of seconds to wait before popping window back down.
This option can be used to monitor events of non-lasting impor‐
tance, such as syslog or UUCP queues. The default value of 0
disables the fade option.
-led ledNum
This option specifies a keyboard LED to light up when there is
mail waiting in the file. The default is zero (do not light a
LED).
-ledPopdown
This option indicates that the LED should be turned off when
xlbiff is popped down. Ordinarily the LED stays lit to remind
one of awaiting mail. This option has no effect if the -led
option is disabled.
+ledPopdown
Opposite of -ledPopdown.
-refresh seconds
This option specifies the number of seconds to wait before re-
posting the mail window after you acknowledge it, and it still
contains the same mail. The default is 0 (no refresh). A use‐
ful value for this is 1800 (30 minutes).
-scanCommand command
Specifies a shell command to be executed to list the contents
of mailbox file. The specified string value is used as the
argument to a system(3) call and may therefore contain i/o re‐
direction. The command's stdout is used to generate the win‐
dow. Internally, the command is generated as
sprintf(buf, scanCommand, file, columns)
so a %s and %d respectively in scanCommand will generate the
values of file and columns. The default scanCommand is
scan -file %s -width %d
-checkCommand command
Specifies a shell command to be executed to check for new mail
(or some other condition) rather than simply examining the size
of the mail file. The specified string value is used as the
argument to a system(3) call and may therefore contain i/o re‐
direction. Like xbiff, an exit status of 0 indicates that a
change in condition demands a new evaluation of scanCommand and
subsequent popup, 1 indicates no change in status and 2 indi‐
cates that the condition has been cleared and the xlbiff window
should pop down. By default, no shell command is provided.
This option may be useful to monitor logins (by checking update
times of /etc/utmp), using POP, and so forth. Let your imagi‐
nation go wild!
-volume percentage
This option specifies how loud the bell should be rung when new
mail comes in.
The following standard X Toolkit command line arguments are commonly
used with xlbiff:
-display display
This option specifies the X server to contact.
-geometry +x+y
This option specifies the preferred position of the scan win‐
dow.
-bg color
This option specifies the color to use for the background of
the window.
-fg color
This option specifies the color to use for the foreground of
the window.
-xrm resourcestring
This option specifies a resource string to be used. This is
especially useful for setting resources that do not have sepa‐
rate command line options.
RESOURCES
The application class name is XLbiff. It understands all of the core
resource names and classes as well as:
bottom (class Bottom)
Same as the -bottom option.
file (class File)
Same as the -file option.
scanCommand (class ScanCommand)
Same as the -scanCommand option.
checkCommand (class CheckCommand)
Same as the -checkCommand option.
resetSaver (class ResetSaver)
Same as the -resetSaver option.
update (class Interval)
Same as the -update option.
fade (class Fade)
Same as the -fade option.
columns (class Columns)
Same as the -columns option.
rows (class Rows)
Specifies the maximum height, in lines, of the xlbiff window.
The default is 20.
led (class Led)
Same as the -led option.
ledPopdown (class LedPopdown)
Same as the -ledPopdown option.
refresh (class Refresh)
Same as the -refresh option.
sound (class Sound)
Specify a command to be run in place of a bell when new mail
arrives. For example, on a Sun Sparc you might use:
*sound: /usr/demo/SOUND/play -v %d /usr/demo/SOUND/sounds/doorbell.au
The command is generated internally with sprintf, so the char‐
acters ``%d'' will be replaced with the numeric value of the
volume resource.
volume (class Volume)
Same as the -volume option.
ACTIONS
Xlbiff provides the following actions for use in event translations:
popdown()
This action causes the window to vanish.
exit() This action causes xlbiff to exit.
The default translations are
<Button1Press>: popdown()
<Button3Press>: exit()ENVIRONMENT
DISPLAY is used to get the default host and display number.
FILES
/var/mail/username
default mail file to check.
SEE ALSOX(1), scan(1)BUGS
specifying dimensions in -geometry causes badness.
The led option does not work on Suns before SunOS 4.1/X11R5.
AUTHOR
Ed Santiago, esm@auspex.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Xlbiff took shape around the xgoodbye sample program in the O'Reilly X
Toolkit Intrinsics Programming Manual. A lot of code was stolen from
xbiff, including this man page. Thanks also to Stephen Gildea
(gildea@expo.lcs.mit.edu) for the many, many contributions that made
xlbiff grow from a midnight hack to a more mature product.
14 October 1991 XLBIFF(1)
