Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)

FreeBSD Manual Pages

  
 
  

home | help
XMAILBOX(1)		    General Commands Manual		   XMAILBOX(1)

NAME
       xmailbox	- mailbox checker for X	using XPM icons

SYNOPSIS
       xmailbox	[-toolkitoption	...] [-option ...]

DESCRIPTION
       The xmailbox program displays, by default, an image of a	mailbox.  When
       there  is  no  mail, the	image shown is that of a mailbox with its flag
       down.  When new mail arrives, the image changes to that	of  a  mailbox
       with  the  flag	up, its	door open and a	letter visible inside.	It can
       also optionally play a sound through  the  SUN  workstation's  internal
       speaker	or a PC	equipped with a	sound-card running Linux.  The NCD au-
       dio server, the rplay sound package, the	 standard  SUN	audio  driver,
       Linux  and  FreeBSD Sun-compatible audio	drivers, and an	external sound
       player program are supported.  By default, pressing any mouse button in
       the image forces	xmailbox to remember the current size of the mail file
       as being	the ``empty'' size and to change its  image  accordingly.   In
       addition, the user can optionally invoke	his/her	favorite mail retriev-
       ing program.

       This  program  is nothing more than a wrapper around the	Mailbox	widget
       included	with the program's source distribution.

OPTIONS
       xmailbox	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 op-
	       tions should be printed on the standard error.

       -update seconds
	       This option specifies the frequency in seconds at which	xmail-
	       box  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 /usr/spool/mail/username, where
	       username	is your	login name.

       -volume percentage
	       This option specifies how loud the bell should be rung when new
	       mail  comes  in,	 or, if	the sound option is used, how high the
	       playing volume should be. The default is	33 percent.

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

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

       -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 XMailbox.	 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  to
	       watch  /usr/spool/mail/username,	 where	username is your login
	       name.

       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.

       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, or,	if  the	 sound
	       option  is used,	how high the playing volume should be. The de-
	       fault is	33 percent.

       mailXpmFile (class MailXpmFile)
	       Specifies the XPM file used when	mail exists in the mailbox.

       nomailXpmFile (class NomailXpmFile)
	       Specifies the XPM file used when	there is no mail  (or  no  new
	       mail) in	the mailbox.

       mailSndFile (class MailSndFile)
	       Specifies  the sound file used when mail	exists in the mailbox.
	       If no file is specified,	the standard X Window  beep  sound  is
	       used.

       mailSndComm (class MailSndComm)
	       Specifies  an external sound player program to execute when new
	       mail exists in the mailbox.  You	can use	"%s" in	the command to
	       include the sound file defined in mailSndFile.  In the  follow-
	       ing  example,  "%s"  will be replaced by	"/usr/lib/sounds/ugot-
	       mail.au"	when xmailbox executes.

		 xmailbox*mailSndFile: /usr/lib/sounds/ugotmail.au
		 xmailbox*mailSndComm: /usr/bin/play %s

       mailapp (class MailApp)
	       Specifies the mail retrieving application to run	when the  user
	       clicks on the mailbox image. The	specified string value is used
	       as the argument to a system(3) call.

       mailNumOfXpmFile	(class MailNumOfXpmFile)
	       Specifies  the  number  of  Xpm files to	be used	for animation.
	       The range of values can be between 1 and	8.  The	default	 value
	       is 1 = no animation.  See ANIMATION section below for details.

       mailAnimUpdate (class MailAnimUpdate)
	       Specifies  the  interval	of displaying a	series of Xpm icons in
	       milliseconds.  The default is 1000 milliseconds	or  1  second.
	       See ANIMATION section below for details.

       mailAnimOnce (class MailAnimOnce)
	       Specifies  the  whether	the XPM	icon animation sequence	is re-
	       peated continuously or only once.  The default is "false", that
	       is, repeat until	the user clicks	on the icon.

       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.

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

       unset() This action causes the widget to	lower the flag until new  mail
	       comes in, and to	start any mail-reading application defined via
	       the mailapp resource.

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

       The default translation is

	       <ButtonPress>(2):  unset()
	       <ButtonPress>:	  ack()

       i.e. with a double click	you lower the flag and start your mail-reading
       application, while with a single	click you only acknowledge the mail in
       your mailbox, lowering the flag.

ANIMATION
       xmailbox	has built-in support for eye-catching animation	when new  mail
       comes  in,  in addition to the optional sound support. Animation	can be
       achieved	by displaying a	sequence of XPM	icons with slight  differences
       in each icon.  The interval of displaying different icons is controlled
       by  mailAnimUpdate  measured  in	 milliseconds.	Values between 500 and
       1000 seems to provide smooth animation.	However, you should experiment
       with this parameter on your system.

       In order	to use this feature, you have to create	a series of XPM	 icons
       with   a	 base  name  such  as  "xmail.xpm"  in	a  directory  such  as
       "/usr/X11/lib/icons/pixmap".  Now, for each XPM icon created, prepend a
       number before the base name starting from 0.  For example, you've  cre-
       ated  "0xmail.xpm", "1xmail.xpm", "2xmail.xpm", and "3xmail.xpm".  Now,
       set the mailNumOfXpmFile	entry to a value of "4"	since there  are  four
       XPM   icons   created.	 Finally,   set	  the	mailXpmFile  entry  to
       "/usr/X11/lib/icons/pixmap/xmail.xpm".  Note that "xmail.xpm" does  not
       have  any  numbers  prepended.	When you start xmailbox	and a new mail
       comes in, xmailbox will show the	icons "0xmail.xpm", ..., "3xmail.xpm",
       "0xmail.xpm", ..., "3xmail.xpm",	...  in	 that  sequence	 until	you've
       pressed the icon.

       Note: If	you do not specify mailXpmFile but set a value other than 1 to
       mailNumOfXpmFile,  xmailbox will	toggle between the internal "mail" and
       "nomail"	icons.

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(1), xrdb(1)

AUTHORS
       Dimitrios P. Bouras (dbouras@hol.gr)
       The first version of xmailbox was a hack	based on the X11R5 XBiff writ-
       ten  by	Jim Fulton, MIT	X Consortium, and Ralph	Swick, DEC/MIT Project
       Athena.

       William K. W. Cheung (wcheung@mail.spiralcomm.com)
       Added optional sound  output  using  the	 standard  SUN	audio  driver,
       Linux's	Sun-compatible	audio  driver, the rplay sound package,	or the
       NCD audio server, as well as optional mail application  execution  upon
       clicking	 on  the  mail icon.  Added the	capability to show a series of
       XPM icons when new mail arrives.

CONTRIBUTORS
       Brian Clapper (bmc@telebase.com)
       Added extra compiling options to	 allow	sound  support	under  FreeBSD
       2.0.5 and 2.1.

       Laurent Martin (martin@@isia.cma.fr)
       Added  the  capability  to  use an external sound player	application to
       play a sound when new mail arrives.

COPYRIGHT
       Xbiff is	Copyright 1988,	X Consortium.  See X(1)	for a  full  statement
       of rights and permissions.

X Version 11			   Release 6			   XMAILBOX(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=xmailbox&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.0>

home | help