.TH BIFF 1 "4 September 1985" "X Version 10"
.UC 4
.SH NAME
biff \- be notified if mail arrives and who it is from
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B biff
[
.B yn
]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Biff
informs the system whether you want to be notified when mail arrives
during the current terminal session.
The command
.IP
.B "biff y"
.LP
enables notification; the command
.IP
.B "biff n"
.LP
disables it.
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
.I \&.login
or
.I \&.profile
to be executed at each login.
.PP
.I Biff
operates asynchronously.
For synchronous notification use the MAIL variable of
.IR sh (1)
or the
.I mail
variable of
.IR csh (1).
.SH "X WINDOW SYSTEM"
.PP
If you are logged in under the X window system, a popup window is used instead
of a message to your login window.  To delete the window, click any mouse
button with the mouse in the window.
Properties of the window can be controlled
with options for \fIbiff\fP in your \fI.Xdefaults\fP file.
The following options are
recognized:
.PP
.TP 8
.B Background
To determine the background color.
.PP
.TP 8
.B Border
To determine the border color.
.PP
.TP 8
.B BorderWidth
To determine the border width.  Default is 2.
.PP
.TP 8
.B BodyFont
To determine text font.  Default is 8x13.
.PP
.TP 8
.B Foreground
To determine the foreground color.
.PP
.TP 8
.B InternalBorder
To determine the padding around the text.  Default is 2.
.PP
.TP 8
.B Mouse
To determine the mouse cursor color.
.PP
.TP 8
.B Offset
To determine the vertical position of the window.  Positive is offset from
the top of the screen, negative is from the bottom.  Default is 2.
Window is centered horizontally.
.PP
.TP 8
.B ReverseVideo
If ``on'', the window should be white on black instead of black on white.
Default is off.
.PP
.TP 8
.B Timeout
In the event you don't click in the window, specifies the maximum number of
minutes the window should remain on the screen.  Value of zero means infinite.
Default is zero.
.TP 8
.B Volume
Controls the volume of the bell.  Default is zero.
.SH SEE ALSO
csh(1),
sh(1),
mail(1),
X(1),
comsat(8C)