mailbox
1. A file belonging to a particular user on a
particular computer in which recieved {electronic mail}
messages are stored ready for the user to read them. A
mailbox may be just an {electronic mail address} to which
messages are sent and may not actually correspond to a file if
the messages are processed automatically, e.g. a {mail server}
or {mailing list}.
2.
A destination for interprocess messages in a {message passing} system. A mailbox is a {message} queue,
usually stored in the memory of the processor on which the
receiving process is running. {Primitives} are provided for
sending a message to a named mailbox and for reading messages
from a mailbox.
(1994-10-20)