mail-e

#! /bin/sh
# No "-f" argument above?

# This script reads standard input, and if not empty calls the "mail"
# program on it.

# In other words it is a version of "mail" that assumes the -e argument:
#     -e      Don’t send empty mails.  If the body is empty skip the mail.
# That feature is useful in scripts and cron jobs, but is not supported
# in all versions of mail.

# Read standard input
BODY=/tmp/maile-input-$$
cat > $BODY 2>&1

# Invoke mail if body is non-empty.
if [ -s $BODY ]; then
  # Non-empty body
  mail "$@" < $BODY
fi
rm -f $BODY


## Testing
## This should produce no error
# echo -n "" | mail-e -invalidoption
## This should send the mail
# echo -n "body" | mail-e -s "The subject" $USER