shell script and mail

ntan81 · 10-25-2004, 05:10 PM

I am attempting to write a script that will check an email account and mail me a list of users (from the "From" field) that have sent mail to that account in the last 24 hours. Ill use cron to do this once a day. The script will run on the same mail server as the account.

Can someone point me to a good reference or examples of how I can have a script interact with mail in this way? This will be my first major attempt at scripting in Linux.

Thanks in advance!

1337 Twinkie · 10-25-2004, 10:18 PM

What language were you planning on using (Bash, Python, etc...)? I know that Python has some functions that deal with email.

Here is the Python Library Reference . Check out the the section on 'net protocols (near the bottom). There is all kinds of stuff for handling email.

ntan81 · 10-26-2004, 08:53 AM

I was thinking of using bash, but I wouldn't be opposed to using something different, although I would have to learn it.

What are the pros and cons of using bash?
What are the pros and cons of using Python?
Whats the learning curve on Python look like?

Cedrik · 10-26-2004, 10:32 AM

you could use Perl (and Bash too but I prefer Perl), the idea is to
parse the right files in ~/Mail dir or similar dir , depending on your
mail client.

ntan81 · 10-29-2004, 03:55 PM

I've decided to just write a shell script.

Is there a command I can use from my script that will empty the contents of /var/mail/user

The script is going to run once a day, and after it finishes running, i need it to clear out the inbox and get ready for the next day's round of mail.

Thanks in advance!