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

.TH COMSAT 8C "4 March 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
operates with two processes.  The parent process simply waits
on the child process, in case it dies for some reason.  The
child process performs the actual work. 
.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 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.
.SH FILES
.DT
/etc/utmp	to find out who's logged on and on what terminals
.SH "SEE ALSO"
biff(1)
.SH BUGS
Sometimes 
.I comsat
gets stuck and the child process must be killed off to get
things going again.
.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 while editing and the like.
Commit	Line	Data
11c4913d C	1	.TH COMSAT 8C "4 March 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	operates with two processes. The parent process simply waits
	13	on the child process, in case it dies for some reason. The
	14	child process performs the actual work.
	15	.I Comsat
	16	listens on a datagram port associated with the ``biff'' service
	17	specification (see
	18	.IR services (5))
	19	for one line messages of the form
	20	.PP
	21	.ti +0.5i
	22	user@mailbox-offset
	23	.PP
	24	If the
	25	.I user
	26	specified is logged in to the system and the associated terminal has
	27	the execute bit turned on (by a ``biff y''), the
	28	.I offset
	29	is used as a seek offset into the appropriate mailbox file and
	30	the first 7 lines or 560 characters of the message are printed
	31	on the user's terminal.
	32	.SH FILES
	33	.DT
	34	/etc/utmp to find out who's logged on and on what terminals
	35	.SH "SEE ALSO"
	36	biff(1)
	37	.SH BUGS
	38	Sometimes
	39	.I comsat
	40	gets stuck and the child process must be killed off to get
	41	things going again.
	42	.PP
	43	Users should be notified of mail which arrives on other
	44	machines than the one they are currently logged in to.
	45	.PP
	46	The notification should appear in a separate window so it
	47	does not mess up the screen while editing and the like.