msgchk Command

Purpose

Checks for messages.

Syntax

msgchk [ User ... ]

Description

The msgchk command checks mail drops for messages. The msgchk command reports whether the mail drop for the specified user contains messages and indicates if the user has already seen these messages. By default, the msgchk command checks the mail drop for the current user.

Flags

Item Description
-help Lists the command syntax, available switches (toggles), and version information.
Note: For the Message Handler (MH), the name of this flag must be fully spelled out.

Examples

  1. To check to see if you have any new messages, enter:
    msgchk
    If you have new messages, the system responds with a message similar to the following:
    You have new Internet mail waiting
    If you have no messages, the system responds with a message similar to the following:
    You don't have any mail waiting
  2. To check to see if user karen on your local system has any new messages, enter:
    msgchk karen
    In this example, if user karen on your local system has new messages, the system responds with a message similar to the following:
    karen has new Internet mail waiting
    If user karen on your local system has no messages, the system responds with a message similar to the following:
    karen doesn't have any mail waiting

Files

Item Description
$HOME/.mh_profile Contains the user's MH profile.
/etc/mh/mtstailor Contains the MH tailor file.
/var/spool/Mail/$USER Defines the location of the mail drop.
/usr/bin/msgchk Contains the msgchk command.