finger output: where does "last time the user read mail" come from?

[Christian Caron]

Hi,

from the man page, it says:

o last time the user received mail, and the last time
the user read mail

In the man page, it doesn't say where it takes the "last time the user read
mail"...

Somebody has a clue?

Thanks!

Christian

[Barry Margolin]

In article <bf48fd$q1i13@nrn2.NRCan.gc.ca>,
Christian Caron <nospam@nospam.org> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>from the man page, it says:
>
> o last time the user received mail, and the last time
> the user read mail
>
>In the man page, it doesn't say where it takes the "last time the user read
>mail"...
>
>Somebody has a clue?

It's the access time on the user's mail file.

--
Barry Margolin, [email]barry.margolin@level3.com[/email]
Level(3), Woburn, MA
*** DON'T SEND TECHNICAL QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO ME, post them to newsgroups.
Please DON'T copy followups to me -- I'll assume it wasn't posted to the group.

[Chris Thompson]

In article <bf48fd$q1i13@nrn2.NRCan.gc.ca>,
Christian Caron <nospam@nospam.org> wrote:

>
>from the man page, it says:
>
> o last time the user received mail, and the last time
> the user read mail
>
>In the man page, it doesn't say where it takes the "last time the user read
>mail"...
>
>Somebody has a clue?

These are just the mtime and atime, respectively, of the user's inbox,
/var/mail/$LOGNAME.

Chris Thompson
Email: cet1 [at] cam.ac.uk

[Richard L. Hamilton]

In article <bf48fd$q1i13@nrn2.nrcan.gc.ca>,
"Christian Caron" <nospam@nospam.org> writes:

> Hi,
>
> from the man page, it says:
>
> o last time the user received mail, and the last time
> the user read mail
>
> In the man page, it doesn't say where it takes the "last time the user read
> mail"...
>
> Somebody has a clue?

It stat(2)'s the user's mailbox (in /var/mail), and if the last modified
time is earlier than the last accessed time, it says the mail was last
read as of the last accessed time. Otherwise, if the last modified time
is later than the last accessed time, it says new mail received (at the
last modified time), last read (at the last accessed time). Or if they're
equal, it just says unread mail since (last modified time), 'cause it's
not sure whether it's a new mailbox with one message in it, or whether it's
a mailbox that was recreated so fast that the atime and mtime are the same.

--
mailto:rlhamil@mindwarp.smart.net [url]http://www.smart.net/~rlhamil[/url]

[Christian Caron]

"Richard L. Hamilton" <Richard.L.Hamilton@mindwarp.smart.net> wrote in
message news:vhbc824vmdfhb8@corp.supernews.com...

> In article <bf48fd$q1i13@nrn2.nrcan.gc.ca>,
> "Christian Caron" <nospam@nospam.org> writes:

> > Hi,
> >
> > from the man page, it says:
> >
> > o last time the user received mail, and the last time
> > the user read mail
> >
> > In the man page, it doesn't say where it takes the "last time the user

read

> > mail"...
> >
> > Somebody has a clue?

>
> It stat(2)'s the user's mailbox (in /var/mail), and if the last modified
> time is earlier than the last accessed time, it says the mail was last
> read as of the last accessed time. Otherwise, if the last modified time
> is later than the last accessed time, it says new mail received (at the
> last modified time), last read (at the last accessed time). Or if they're
> equal, it just says unread mail since (last modified time), 'cause it's
> not sure whether it's a new mailbox with one message in it, or whether

it's

> a mailbox that was recreated so fast that the atime and mtime are the

same.

>
> --
> mailto:rlhamil@mindwarp.smart.net [url]http://www.smart.net/~rlhamil[/url]

Perfect answer!

Thanks everyone!