BIFF(1)                 System General Commands Manual                 BIFF(1)

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

SYNOPSIS
     biff [y | n]

DESCRIPTION
     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 exe-
     cuted 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
     csh(1), mail(1), mesg(1), sh(1), comsat(8)

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

BSD                              June 6, 1993                              BSD