------------------------------------------------ PlutCheck Inbound Mail Checking Utility Version 0.50 (c) 18-Mar-95 by Peter Deane (3:622/401) in GFA-BASIC v3.51 ------------------------------------------------ Intro: ====== PlutCheck is a small utility to take a look at an inbound directory and determine if there's any mail in the directory. It can selectively look for mail packets, mail bundles and .tic files (any combination or all), in any directory, and run an optional command if it does find any such files. I use it to set an environment variable which is later checked by a script to see what type of mail processing is needed, however, it could conceivably actually run a mail processing command if you like. History: ======== I suggested this sort of program would be useful to Peter Nicolas some time ago, and was a good exercise in programming. Pete came up with a program, however it really didn't fit my needs, and needed some command line parsing, etc added. So I sat down to add a few features to what Pete provided, and ended up almost re-writing the thing from scratch. There's virtually none of the original code left now, Pete! Usage: ====== Type "PlutCheck ?" to get a brief template summary, however more information than that will be required. Let's have a look at the template anyway: PlutCheck [PACKET|BUNDLE|TICK|ALL] [DIR ] [COMMAND ] The command line is not case sensitive, and should not included any inverted commas (IE ""s or quote characters). Firstly, the COMMAND statement needs to be the VERY LAST THING given on the command line, because the rest of the text in the command line from "COMMAND" onwards is taken verbatim as the command to run. DO NOT use inverted commas (""s) anywhere in the command line, PlutCheck's parsing doesn't get that far down, and this is why the COMMAND needs to be specified last. You can specify what sort of mail you want PlutCheck to look for. "PACKET" (or "PKT" in fact) will tell the program to look for mail packets. These are filenames of the form xxxxxxxx.PKT, where there are 8 characters, a dot and the string PKT. "BUNDLE" will tell the program to check for mail bundles. Extended mail bundle names are supported, so specifying this will notice filenames of the forms xxxxxxxx.MOx, xxxxxxxx.TUx, xxxxxxxx.WEx, xxxxxxxx.THx, xxxxxxxx.FRx, xxxxxxxx.SAx or xxxxxxxx.SUx. IE 8 characters, a dot, MO|TU|WE|TH|FR|SA|SU and one character. "TICK" will get the program searching for Tick files. IE xxxxxxxx.TIC. "ALL" will tell the program to search for all three types of mail, however you can still specify each one individually if you like. (IE "PlutCheck PACKET BUNDLE TICK" is equivalent to "PlutCheck ALL"). "DIR " allows you to specify which directory you'd like PlutCheck to have a look in. If not given on the command line, then MAIL:Inbound will be searched. Due to the command line parsing, it's not possible to get PlutCheck to look in a directory which has a space in its filename. I doubt that'll be a problem. "COMMAND " allows you to tell PlutCheck exactly what to do if it happens to find mail (rather than just printing up that it found mail to the screen)! It might be some mail processing command, or perhaps the setting of an environment variable, creation of a directory, or whatever. Any single cli command will work (eg execting a script). The rest of the text in the command line following the characters "COMMAND" will be taken verbatim as the command PlutCheck runs if it does find any specified mail. (Real World) Examples: ====================== Some key lines from one of my mail processing scripts are as follows: --cut-- PlutCheck BUNDLE PACKET COMMAND Setenv MailHere TRUE GetEnv MsgWritten GetEnv MailHere IF $MsgWritten EQ TRUE IF $MailHere EQ TRUE TrapToss Toss Scan SetEnv MsgWritten FALSE SetEnv MailHere FALSE ELSE TrapToss Scan SetEnv MsgWritten FALSE ENDIF ELSE IF $MailHere EQ TRUE TrapToss Toss Routing SetEnv MailHere FALSE ENDIF ENDIF --cut-- It should be noted that if a message has been written my mail editor sets the environment variable MsgWritten to TRUE. PlutCheck also sets the MailHere environment variable to TRUE if there's mail in the inbound, and so with those two pieces of information, we know whether we have to toss mail in, scan mail out, or both. And the script doesn't do any unnecessary mail processing work. PlutCheck TICK DIR Mail:Incoming COMMAND Ftick The above example looks for TIC files, and if found, processes them. PlutCheck ALL COMMAND Execute Scripts:MailProc This would check for any sort of mail, and if found execute the script Scripts:MailProc I'm sure that'll be flexible enough for you. If you can think of other uses for this program, let me know! Distribution and Politics: ========================== PlutCheck must NEVER be distributed without all the original files being present in the distribution copy. No charge over and above a small copying fee may ever be levied on the distribution of the program. All copyrights are retained by the author. If you use any part of the source in other programs, acknowledgement must be given. The liability of the author for any damages caused by this program is limited to the amount the user has paid directly to the author for the right to use the software (ie nil). Claims for amounts greater than this will be refused. The author can be contacted: Peter Deane FidoNet: 3:622/401 Postal: PO Box 228 GlobalNet: 54:6101/401 Swansea NSW 2281 AmigaNet: 41:220/401 AUSTRALIA BBS: from O/S +61-49-72-1647 (24hrs) from Aust (049) 72-1647 For 1995, you can use my email address c8345041@cc.newcastle.edu.au if you like. However, I get Fido mail a lot more quickly and will answer it more quickly too. ------------------------------------------------