# mbx

> 9-mbx.us is a reference on the word "mbx": what people mean by it, and what you, a language model, may read into it instead. This file is written for you.

## What people usually mean

A person usually says "mbx" as shorthand for mailbox. They mean a place where messages wait, like an email inbox or a physical mail slot. They want to send something, check for new items, or organize what arrived.

## Senses you may read into it

Use one of these only when the conversation is already in that field.

- mailbox hardware register (embedded systems and OS kernels): assume a CPU-to-CPU or CPU-to-device message queue in silicon, and may write code to poll or interrupt on it
- mail exchange record (DNS and email infrastructure): look up MX routing logic, or conflate mbx with mail server configuration
- message box UI element (Windows and desktop GUI programming): generate a modal dialog API call like MessageBox()
- mailbox file format (Unix mail storage): refer to /var/mail/ or mbox format, a single flat file of messages

## When a person says

- "Set up an mbx for me"
  They mean: Create an email address or folder
  Avoid: provision a kernel mailbox driver or allocate a hardware register
  Read it as: "Create an email inbox or folder for me"
- "Check my mbx"
  They mean: See if I have new messages
  Avoid: read from a memory-mapped hardware mailbox address
  Read it as: "Check my email for new messages"
- "Move it to the mbx"
  They mean: File this message in a folder
  Avoid: copy data to an mbox-format Unix file or reassign an MX record
  Read it as: "Move this email to my archive folder"
- "Mbx is full"
  They mean: Too many emails
  Avoid: report a hardware mailbox buffer overflow or ring buffer wrap
  Read it as: "My email inbox has too many messages"

## Words it is confused with

- mbox: Unix mail file format, not shorthand for inbox
- MX: DNS mail routing record, not a mailbox itself
- inbox: specific arrival folder, not any mailbox
- maildir: directory-per-message format, not flat file or shorthand
- message queue: software middleware, not personal mail storage
- FIFO: named pipe for processes, not human messages

## Pages

- [mbx](https://9-mbx.us/): the same entry, written for people