set mail_type

Removed setting

The former setting used this syntax:

/set mail_type [mbox|maildir]

It selected how the former built-in mail checker interpreted the user's maildrop: an mbox file associated with MAIL, or a Maildir associated with MAILDIR and its new directory.

EPIC6 does not register mail_type as a built-in setting, and the supplied current mail script does not read it. There is no supported mbox or maildir selection, default, or activation behavior attached to this name now.

Without script-provided handling of unknown settings, an obsolete assignment such as this follows the ordinary unknown-variable path:

/set mail_type mbox

It reports No such variable "MAIL_TYPE". Remove such assignments from startup scripts. Defining a similarly named setting in another script does not change the supplied checker's discovery rules unless that script explicitly implements the behavior.

Current mail discovery

The Python implementation loaded by mail installs both mbox and Maildir readers. They can both contribute to its counts; there is no exclusive type selector.

• The mbox reader uses an existing file named by MAIL, or searches common spool directories using LOGNAME.
• The Maildir reader uses MAILDIR when it names a directory with both new and cur subdirectories. It counts messages without the seen flag rather than simply counting the new directory alone.

These are process-environment inputs used when checking is enabled. With a Python-enabled setup and appropriate mailbox environment:

/load mail

The supplied script initializes and enables its mail boolean setting, performs discovery, and schedules checks. See that page for count semantics and limitations. This local mailbox work sends no IRC request.

Source references

• source/vars.c: current registration omits mail_type and handles unknown-variable errors.
• script/mail: loads the Python checker through pyload.
• mail.py: installs both reader factories and discovers their environment-selected maildrops without consulting a type setting.