tombre@weissenburger.crin.fr (Karl Tombre) (09/18/89)
I have problems with newmail on a SUN 3/260 and SunOS 4.0 : I start newmail in my .login file, with newmail looking actually not at my sun mailbox but at a remote mailbox (that of the main mail server). I also start up a shelltool with elm running on that mailbox. But when I exit suntools, newmail apparently doesn't kill itself; this Monday I found on the console screen all the newmail messages of the weekend, from the newmail process I had running on Friday. I have also found another problem with newmail when running on the main mail server (a Convex) : I am advised that new mail has arrived. If I enter elm and read this new mail, then quit elm without deleting the new mail which has now been read, newmail tells me a second time that there is new mail. What is strange is that the first time, I get the newmail messages WITH the name of the sender, but the second time WITHOUT the name of the sender... I also get sometimes, although not often, strange newmail messages like : New mail from ^JJ or something like that. It doesn't relate to any new incoming mail... I have the elm 2.2 package at patchlevel 10. Has anybody experienced similar problems and/or has any solutions or advice to give. Thanks in advance, Karl Tombre - INRIA Lorraine / CRIN EMAIL : tombre@loria.crin.fr - POST : BP 239, 54506 VANDOEUVRE CEDEX, France
syd@DSI.COM (Syd Weinstein) (09/18/89)
tombre@weissenburger.crin.fr (Karl Tombre) writes:
:I have problems with newmail on a SUN 3/260 and SunOS 4.0 : I start
:newmail in my .login file, with newmail looking actually not at my sun
:mailbox but at a remote mailbox (that of the main mail server). I also
:start up a shelltool with elm running on that mailbox. But when I exit
:suntools, newmail apparently doesn't kill itself; this Monday I found
:on the console screen all the newmail messages of the weekend, from
:the newmail process I had running on Friday.
Again, if the newmail process doesn't get sighup when you logout,
it will not go away, its a simplistic program. The suggestion
that works at many sites us:
Configure newmail for autobackground and then start newmail
without the & on the end. This works around the uses that use
csh where their csh disassociates the process from the terminal
when started with an &.
:I have also found another problem with newmail when running on the
:main mail server (a Convex) : I am advised that new mail has arrived.
:If I enter elm and read this new mail, then quit elm without deleting
:the new mail which has now been read, newmail tells me a second time
:that there is new mail. What is strange is that the first time, I get
:the newmail messages WITH the name of the sender, but the second time
:WITHOUT the name of the sender...
This is again due to the simplistic nature of newmail. It just remembers
the size of the old message file and then reads from there. However,
entering Elm and exiting adds status headers, thus the size increases.
Now it finds stuff again, only not always from the top, thus the garbage.
We are testing out a small change suggested by a user that reduces
(Note not eliminates) this effect. It will always happen if the status
messages make the file bigger by a whole message. Without making newmail
a much more complicated program that tracks the messages it has seen,
this effect will not go away.
--
=====================================================================
Sydney S. Weinstein, CDP, CCP Elm Coordinator
Datacomp Systems, Inc. Voice: (215) 947-9900
syd@DSI.COM or {bpa,vu-vlsi}!dsinc!syd FAX: (215) 938-0235indra@amdcad.AMD.COM (Indra Singhal) (09/19/89)
In article <278@loria.crin.fr> tombre@loria.crin.fr (Karl Tombre) writes: >I have problems with newmail on a SUN 3/260 and SunOS 4.0 : I start >newmail in my .login file, with newmail looking actually not at my sun >mailbox but at a remote mailbox (that of the main mail server). I also I suggest you start wnewmail from within .sunview rather than .login. I have never had a problem, sunview always kills the process when I exit. Give it a shot, I use the following line in my .sunview to start it: cmdtool -Wp 460 0 -Ws 565 76 -WP 1088 536 -Wt /usr/lib/fonts/fixedwidthfonts/sail.r.6 -Wl Newmail -WL Newmail -c wnewmail [note: the above is a single line, join them with your favorite editor] it starts a scrollable command tool with very tiny font so I can have a small window close to the border. >I have also found another problem with newmail when running on the >main mail server (a Convex) : I am advised that new mail has arrived. >If I enter elm and read this new mail, then quit elm without deleting >the new mail which has now been read, newmail tells me a second time >that there is new mail. What is strange is that the first time, I get >the newmail messages WITH the name of the sender, but the second time >WITHOUT the name of the sender... This is something I have noticed too. I have no explanation. >Karl Tombre - INRIA Lorraine / CRIN >EMAIL : tombre@loria.crin.fr - POST : BP 239, 54506 VANDOEUVRE CEDEX, France -- iNDRA | indra@amdcad.AMD.COM | {ames decwrl gatech pyramid sun uunet}!amdcad!indra | MS 167; Box 3453; Sunnyvale, CA 94088