NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     biff - be notified if mail arrives and who it is from

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     biff [y | n]

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     biff informs the system whether you want to be notified when
mail arrives
     during the current terminal session.

     The options are as follows:

     n       Disables notification.

     y       Enables notification.

     When  mail notification is enabled, the header and first few
lines of the
     message will be printed on your  screen  whenever  mail  arrives.  A ``biff
     y'' command is often included in the file .login or .profile
to be executed
 at each login.

     biff operates asynchronously.  For synchronous  notification
use the MAIL
     variable of sh(1) or the mail variable of csh(1).

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     csh(1), mail(1), sh(1), comsat(8)

HISTORY    [Toc]    [Back]

     The biff command appeared in 4.0BSD.  "Biff" was Heidi Stettner's dog.
     He died in August 1993, at 15.

OpenBSD      3.6                           June      6,      1993