Checking for new mail (and killing bkgnd process on logout?)

[Seth Robertson]

In article <128 at isgtec.UUCP> bmw at isgtec.UUCP (Bruce Walker) writes:
>the process
>disconnects from your tty and continues running ...

>My (slightly klugey) solution is to add a line to my .logout (csh):

>	/bin/kill -9 `ps x | awk '$5=="checkmail" {print $1}'`&

>Anyone know a better way?


Sure,  Modify checkmail so that does the following:

	if (kill(ppid,0))
	  exit(1);

So every so often, it checks to see if its parent is around.  If
it isn't, it performs honorable suicide.

Actually, it is also a good idea for the program to make its real PPID
to be 1.  That way you won't accidently kill it && you won't see it
when you do things like `jobs` (You would do it by having the program
call itself && having the first copy kill itself off.  The second copy
then gets a new process group and its parent id gets reset to 1.)

-- 
                                        -Seth Robertson
                                         seth at ctr.columbia.edu