[unix-history] / usr / man / man8 / comsat.8c

.TH COMSAT 8C "18 July 1983"
.UC 4
.SH NAME
comsat \- biff server
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B /etc/comsat
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Comsat
is the server process which listens for reports of incoming mail
and notifies users if they have requested this service.
.I Comsat
listens on a datagram port associated with the ``biff'' service
specification (see
.IR services (5))
for one line messages of the form
.PP
.ti +0.5i
user@mailbox-offset
.PP
If the
.I user
specified is logged in to the system and the associated terminal has
the owner execute bit turned on (by a ``biff y''), the
.I offset
is used as a seek offset into the appropriate mailbox file and
the first 7 lines or 560 characters of the message are printed
on the user's terminal.  Lines which appear to be part of
the message header other than the ``From'', ``To'', ``Date'',
or ``Subject'' lines are not included in the displayed message.
.SH FILES
.DT
/etc/utmp	to find out who's logged on and on what terminals
.SH "SEE ALSO"
biff(1)
.SH BUGS
The message header filtering is prone to error.
.PP
Users should be notified of mail which arrives on other
machines than the one they are currently logged in to.
.PP
The notification should appear in a separate window so it
does not mess up the screen.
Commit	Line	Data
0948693d C	1	.TH COMSAT 8C "18 July 1983"
	2	.UC 4
	3	.SH NAME
	4	comsat \- biff server
	5	.SH SYNOPSIS
	6	.B /etc/comsat
	7	.SH DESCRIPTION
	8	.I Comsat
	9	is the server process which listens for reports of incoming mail
	10	and notifies users if they have requested this service.
	11	.I Comsat
	12	listens on a datagram port associated with the ``biff'' service
	13	specification (see
	14	.IR services (5))
	15	for one line messages of the form
	16	.PP
	17	.ti +0.5i
	18	user@mailbox-offset
	19	.PP
	20	If the
	21	.I user
	22	specified is logged in to the system and the associated terminal has
	23	the owner execute bit turned on (by a ``biff y''), the
	24	.I offset
	25	is used as a seek offset into the appropriate mailbox file and
	26	the first 7 lines or 560 characters of the message are printed
	27	on the user's terminal. Lines which appear to be part of
	28	the message header other than the ``From'', ``To'', ``Date'',
	29	or ``Subject'' lines are not included in the displayed message.
	30	.SH FILES
	31	.DT
	32	/etc/utmp to find out who's logged on and on what terminals
	33	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	34	biff(1)
	35	.SH BUGS
	36	The message header filtering is prone to error.
	37	.PP
	38	Users should be notified of mail which arrives on other
	39	machines than the one they are currently logged in to.
	40	.PP
	41	The notification should appear in a separate window so it
	42	does not mess up the screen.