mail alert script

[epmcmanus at csvax1.cs.tcd.ie]

In article <2462 at solo9.cs.vu.nl>, maart at cs.vu.nl (Maarten Litmaath) writes:
> A general problem with mail notification programs is: how to alert the user?
> rcvalert's method is to print a message (with a beep) to the terminal ONCE.
> But what if the user was having a coffee break and some other program's output
> caused the message to scroll off the screen?

Actually I think that it is adequate to notify just once, provided shell
notification is also enabled.  That way there is immediate notification when
you are actually there, and a guarantee of later notification if you miss
that.

I mention this because I have a C program that performs much the same
function of remote notification as Maarten's script.  But it just grabs the
output of rwho, and if the user is not mentioned does nothing else.  This
is important in an environment where circulars sent to many users are
common.  You want as few commands as possible to be executed for such a
message; otherwise the system will be swamped with .maildelivery processes.

If anyone is interested in this program I would be happy to mail it to
them.
--
Eamonn McManus		emcmanus at cs.tcd.ie	uunet!mcvax!cs.tcd.ie!emcmanus