Subject: Re: a more fundamental ALERT/USERALERT question...

From: "Kevin W. Mullet" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 1999 17:19:56 -0500 (CDT)

I've got a more fundamental question about ALERT (/etc/imapd.alert by
default) and USERALERT (.imapalert).  I'm using PINE 4.10 and UW IMAP
build 12.250.  Are alerts *supposed* to be just single-line messages?
Isn't there a way to have a multiple physical line alert?

UW is sending to my pine process something like this:
   * OK [ALERT] This is the first line.
   * OK [ALERT] this is the second.
   * OK [ALERT] this is the third
   * OK [ALERT]   this is the fourth.
   * OK [ALERT] this is the fifth.
   * OK [ALERT]   this is the sixth..

...and PINE is interpreting this as six separate alerts, splitting it up
thusly:

Alert received while accessing "{test.unt.edu}~/mail/null":
        This is the first line.
Alert received while accessing "{test.unt.edu}~/mail/null":
        this is the second.
Alert received while accessing "{test.unt.edu}~/mail/null":
        this is the third
[...]

Is this the intended behavior?  Should alerts just be single-line
messages?

Also -- where does the USERALERT file go?  Does it cause the alert in any
mailbox the UA happens to go into where the file exists?

Thanks,

-KwM-

--
Kevin W. Mullet                         Network Security and Performance
E-Mail: [email-masked]                     Data Communications
Voice:  1.940.565.4742                  Computing Center
FAX:    1.940.565.4060                  University of North Texas
TDD:    1.800.735.2989                  PO Box 305398
http://people.unt.edu/~kwm/             Denton, TX 76203-5398
Caveat: Nothing in this message is any entity's official opinion.
      "Never anthropomorphize computers; they hate that."

---

From: Mark Crispin <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 1999 22:55:42 -0700 (PDT)

On Sun, 27 Jun 1999 17:19:56 -0500 (CDT), Kevin W. Mullet wrote:
> Are alerts *supposed* to be just single-line messages?

Yes.

> mailbox the UA happens to go into where the file exists?

A systemwide alert is /etc/imapd.alert; a personal alert is ~/.imapalert (a
file in the user's home directory).  Personal alerts are for a user, not for
access to a directory.