XBUFFY(1)						      General Commands Manual							 XBUFFY(1)

NAME

       xbuffy - yet another biff for the X Window System

SYNOPSIS

       xbuffy  [X toolkit options] [-help] [-version] [-horiz] [-silent] [-poll seconds]  [-header seconds] [-acmd soundfile]  [-nobeep] [-nohigh-
       light] [-names] [-orig] [-priority priority] [-command command] [-shortnames] [-mail <mailbox files...>] [-news <newsgroup names...>]

DESCRIPTION

       Xbuffy is based on Xmultibiff by John Reardon.

       Xbuffy keeps track of multiple mailboxes.  You can either specify mailbox files on the command line, in a Xresources file, in a	text  con-
       figuration  file,  or set your MAILPATH environment variable (a colon separated list of files).	It will display the number of new messages
       in each mail file in a box.  You can clear the reverse video in a box by clicking on the box with Button 3.

       Another key feature of xbuffy is that it will use NNTP to watch newsgroups in the same way it watches  mailboxes.   You	can  also  specify
       newsgroups  on  the  command line, in Xresources, in a text configuration file (the same file can specify both mailboxes and newsboxes), or
       set your NEWSPATH environment variable using the same format as the MAILPATH environment variable.

       By specifying certain command line options and/or Xresources, xbuffy can show the From and Subject lines in each box.  It can  also  invoke
       shell  commands	on  button  clicks.  Each box can be configured differently by using a boxfile.  In general, it is a very extensible biff.
       Read on for details on what it can do.

OPTIONS

       The following options are recognized:

       -help	 Print a brief help message and exit

       -version  Print the current version and exit

       -poll secs
		 How often the mailbox files are polled for new mail.  If this is not specified, it will use the MAILCHECK  environment  variable.
		 (default: 60)

       -header secs
		 This  will display the From: and Subject: lines from incoming mail messages in a popup window when button 1 is pressed in the box
		 label.  The mail header will also popup automatically for the amount of time indicated in secs when new mail arrives.	If secs is
		 0,  the  mail	header	will not pop up when new mail arrives.	Clicking in the popup window when mail arrives (if the argument is
		 non-zero) will instantly popdown the window.  This feature was borrowed from xpbiff.

       -fill	 Makes all the boxes the same size.

       -center	 Centers the name of the box in the box.  This option turns on the fill option.

       -acmd sound command
		 This will run a command instead of ringing the bell when new mail arrives.  For example, you could "cat meow >/dev/audio".   This
		 option could also be used to automatically open a mail reader when new mail arrives.

       -horiz	 This will line up the boxes horizontally (default: vertical)

       -nobeep	 This will disable the beep when new mail arrives

       -silent	 Ignore all beep or audio commands. (i.e. be silent)

       -nohighlight
		 This will disable the highlighting of the box in case of new mail.

       -boxfile filename
		 The  name  of a file containing configuration information for the boxes.  The boxfile is an alternative way of specifying what to
		 watch.  The boxfile also allows each box to have different polltime, headertime, etc.

       -origMode This will show all messages in each mailbox.  It has no effect on news groups.

       -names	 Will display the full pathname of all the mailboxes it is watching.

       -shortnames
		 Will display the file names of all the mailboxes it is watching.

       -priority priority
		 Nice level at which xbuffy and its child processes will run.

       -command command
		 This is the default command that is to be executed when Button 2 is pressed on a box.

       X Options Standard X windows options (e.g. -fn, -display, etc.)

FILES

       If nothing to look at is given at the command line, it will try to open $HOME/.xbuffyrc

ENVIRONMENT

       The names and purpose of the some of the following environment variables were borrowed from Bash, the GNU Shell.

       MAILCHECK
	    This specifies the amount of seconds to wait in between polling for mail.

       MAILPATH
	    This is a colon separated list of files to check for mail, if nothing to look at was given and no $HOME/.xbuffyrc exists.

       NEWSPATH
	    This is a colon separated list of newsgroups to monitor, if nothing to look at was given and no $HOME/.xbuffyrc exists.

       NNTPSERVER
	    This is the name of the NNTP server to use for news boxes.

X DEFAULTS

       The application class is XBuffy.  Almost all the arguments above can be set in the X resource database, allowing for one-time configuration
       and  eliminating  long  command	lines.	The environment variables described above take precedence over any X resources that are specified.
       Also, any command line arguments take precedence over both X resources and environment variables.

BOXFILE FORMAT

       The boxfile contains configuration information for each box.  Any line that begins with '#' is considered a comment and	is  ignored.   The
       definition  of a box begins with the keyword box followed by the filename or newsgroup for that box.  All subsequent lines are then used to
       configure that box until either another box command or the end of file.	Note that these options are NOT case sensitive.

       The following are settable on a per box basis by using the boxfile option (note that the boxfile may also be set in the Xresources with the
       resource Xbuffy.boxfile: <filename> and if nothing it given at the command line, it tries to read $HOME/.xbuffyrc).

       When  using  a  boxfile, only the box line is required.	All options that are not given in the boxfile will default to the command line (or
       built in) value.

       box filename
		 The filename or newsgroup for this box.  This also marks the beginning of a box definition.

       title boxtitle
		 The title that you want for this box.	This will override the shortname or longname option.

       mailbox	 Specify that the box is a mailbox (a file).  If neither mailbox or newsbox is specified, mailbox is the default.

       newsbox	 Specify that the box is a newsbox (a NNTP newsgroup).

       checkfile Specify to show the kilobytes of the given file. (Useful for watching for mail in other accounts than the one running xbuffy.)

       origMode  origMode will make Xbuffy try to act like Xmultibiff and count ALL messages instead of just NEW message.

       newMode	 newMode will make Xbuffy count only new messages (this is the default).

       nobeep	 This will disable the beep (or sound command) when new mail arrives in the specified mailbox to be counted.

       beep	 This will enable the beep (or sound) when new mail arrives in the specified mailbox to be counted.

       nohighlight
		 This will disable the highlighting of the box in case of new mail.

       highlight This will enable the highlighting of the box in case of new mail. This is the default.

       shortname This will cause the specified box to be prefaced with the filename.

       longname  This will cause the specified box to be prefaced with a full path name.

       audio command string
		 Set to the command string to be used automatically when new mail arrives.

       polltime secs
		 Set to the time (in seconds) in between polling the box.

       headertime secs
		 Set to the time (in seconds) to display the header when new things arrive.

       command command string
		 Specifies a UNIX shell command to be executed by sh when the middle mouse button is pushed in a box.  Take care to escape charac-
		 ters correctly.

       led num	 Specifies  a  keyboard  led  to  flash when new mail arrives. This is a number between 1 and 3. (1 - NumLock, 2 - CapsLock or 3 -
		 ScrollLock.)

		 NOTE: This is only available on LINUX and only if compiled with --enable-led

       The following resources are settable on a per application basis in the Xresources:

       horiz	 Set to TRUE or FALSE.	Same as the -horiz option.

       mailboxes Set to a colon separated list of mailboxes (files).  This is the same as specifying files on the command line.

       newsboxes Set to a colon separated list of news groups.	This is the same as specifying files on the command line.

EXAMPLES

       The following examples demonstrate how to configure xbuffy to do the same thing from both the command-line and X resources.  Although,  for
       maximum flexibility on a per-box basis, I suggest using a boxfile.

       The following example will watch 2 mailboxes in a home directory:
	    % xbuffy -mail ~/box1 ~/box2 &

	boxfile:
	    box ~/box1
	    box ~/box2

       The following example will watch a mailbox and a newsgroup:
	    % xbuffy -mail /usr/spool/mail/you -news comp.windows.x &

	boxfile:
	    box /usr/spool/mail/you
	    box comp.windows.x
	    newsbox

GRATITUDE

       Thanks  to  John  Reardon for writing the original Xmultibiff and Xmultibiff 2.0.  Xbuffy is a modified version of Xmultibiff 2.0 (although
       the code is looking less and less similar everyday).

BUGS

       Sometimes buffy detects a change in the mailbox and reports new mail before the mail is finished being delivered.  This can (will) be fixed
       when buffy learns hows to deal with file locking.

       There  is a bug with the NNTP stuff that isn't really Buffy's fault.  Most versions of the NNTP server will not dynamically update the high
       message number (you must disconnect from the server and re-connect to get a new high message).  If your server is running one of these ver-
       sions of NNTP then you will not get told of new articles in your newsboxes.

AUTHOR

       xbuffy:	 Bill Pemberton, wfp5p@virginia.EDU

       xmultibiff: John Reardon, Midnight Networks Inc.,
		   badger@midnight.com

								     01/31/95								 XBUFFY(1)