XBIFF(1)                    General Commands Manual                   XBIFF(1)



NAME
       xbiff - mailbox flag for X

SYNOPSIS
       xbiff [ -toolkitoption ... ] [ -option ... ]

DESCRIPTION
       The  xbiff program displays a little image of a mailbox.  When there is
       no mail, the flag on the mailbox is down.  When mail arrives, the  flag
       goes  up  and the mailbox beeps.  By default, pressing any mouse button
       in the image forces xbiff to remember the current size of the mail file
       as being the ``empty'' size and to lower the flag.

OPTIONS
       Xbiff  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 the standard error.

       -update seconds
               This  option  specifies the frequency in seconds at which xbiff
               should update its display.  If the mailbox is obscured and then
               exposed,  it  will  be  updated immediately.  The default is 30
               seconds.

       -file filename
               This option specifies the name of the file which should be mon-
               itored.   By default it watches your inbox in the default loca-
               tion for your system  (some  examples  are  /var/mail/username,
               /usr/spool/mail/username, /var/spool/mail/username (where user-
               name is your login name).  If the MAIL environment variable  is
               set, the file specified by it will be monitored.

       -volume percentage
               This option specifies how loud the bell should be rung when new
               mail comes in.

       -shape  This option indicates that the mailbox window should be  shaped
               if masks for the empty or full images are given.

       The  following  standard  X Toolkit command line arguments are commonly
       used with xbiff:

       -display display
               This option specifies the X server to contact.

       -geometry geometry
               This option specifies the preferred size and  position  of  the
               mailbox  window.   The  mailbox is 48 pixels wide and 48 pixels
               high and will be centered in the window.

       -bg color
               This option specifies the color to use for  the  background  of
               the window.

       -bd color
               This  option  specifies  the color to use for the border of the
               window.

       -bw number
               This option specifies the width in pixels of  the  border  sur-
               rounding the window.

       -fg color
               This  option  specifies  the color to use for the foreground of
               the window.

       -rv     This option indicates that reverse video should be simulated by
               swapping the foreground and background colors.

       -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.

X DEFAULTS
       The  application  class  name  is XBiff.  This program uses the Mailbox
       widget.  It understands all of the core resource names and  classes  as
       well as:

       checkCommand (class CheckCommand)
               Specifies  a shell command to be executed to check for new mail
               rather than examining the size of file.  The  specified  string
               value  is  used  as  the  argument  to a system(3) call and may
               therefore contain i/o redirection.  An exit status of  0  indi-
               cates that new mail is waiting, 1 indicates that there has been
               no change in size, and 2  indicates  that  the  mail  has  been
               cleared.  By default, no shell command is provided.

       file (class File)
               Specifies  the  name of the file to monitor.  The default is as
               described above for the -file command line option.

       onceOnly (class Boolean)
               Specifies that the bell is only rung the first time new mail is
               found  and  is  not  rung again until at least one interval has
               passed with no mail waiting.  The window will continue to indi-
               cate the presence of new mail until it has been retrieved.  The
               default is false.

       width (class Width)
               Specifies the width of the mailbox.

       height (class Height)
               Specifies the height of the mailbox.

       update (class Interval)
               Specifies the frequency in seconds at which the mail should  be
               checked.  The default is 30.

       volume (class Volume)
               Specifies  how loud the bell should be rung.  The default is 33
               percent.

       foreground (class Foreground)
               Specifies the color for the foreground.

       reverseVideo (class ReverseVideo)
               Specifies  that  the  foreground  and  background   should   be
               reversed.

       flip (class Flip)
               Specifies  whether or not the image that is shown when mail has
               arrived should be inverted.  The default is ``true.''

       fullPixmap (class Pixmap)
               Specifies a bitmap to be shown when new mail has arrived.   The
               default is flagup.

       emptyPixmap (class Pixmap)
               Specifies  a  bitmap  to  be shown when no new mail is present.
               The default is flagdown.

       shapeWindow (class ShapeWindow)
               Specifies whether or not the mailbox window should be shaped to
               the  given  fullPixmapMask and emptyPixmapMask.  The default is
               false.

       fullPixmapMask (class PixmapMask)
               Specifies a mask for the bitmap to be shown when new  mail  has
               arrived.  The default is none.

       emptyPixmapMask (class PixmapMask)
               Specifies a mask for the bitmap to be shown when no new mail is
               present.  The default is none.

ACTIONS
       The Mailbox widget provides the following  actions  for  use  in  event
       translations:

       check() This action causes the widget to check for new mail and display
               the flag appropriately.

       unset() This action causes the widget to lower the flag until new  mail
               comes in.

       set()   This  action causes the widget to raise the flag until the user
               resets it.

       The default translation is

               <ButtonPress>:  unset()


ENVIRONMENT
       DISPLAY to get the default host and display number.

       XENVIRONMENT
               to get the name of a resource file that  overrides  the  global
               resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.

SEE ALSO
       X(7), xrdb(1), stat(2)

BUGS
       The mailbox bitmaps are ugly.

AUTHOR
       Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium
       Additional hacks by Ralph Swick, DEC/MIT Project Athena



X Version 11                      xbiff 1.0.3                         XBIFF(1)
