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batcher - article batching backend for InterNetNews
batcher
[ -a arts ] [ -A total_arts ] [ -b size ] [ -B total_size ] [ -i string ] [
-N num_batches ] [ -p process ] [ -r ] [ -s separator ] [ -S alt_spool ] [ -v
] host [ input ]
Batcher reads uses a list of files to prepare
news batches for the specified host. It is normally invoked by a script
run out of cron(8)
that uses shlock(1)
to lock the host name, followed
by a ctlinnd(8)
command to flush the batchfile.
Batcher reads the named
input file, or standard input if no file is given. Relative pathnames are
interpreted from the <pathoutgoing in inn.conf> directory. The input is taken
as a set of lines. Blank lines and lines starting with a number sign (``#'')
are ignored. All other lines should consist of one or two fields separated
by a single space. The first field is the name of a file holding an article;
if it is not an an absolute pathname it is taken relative to the news spool
directory, <patharticles in inn.conf>. The second field, if present, specifies
the size of the article in bytes.
- -S
- The ``-S'' flag may be used to specify
an alternate spool directory to use if the article is not found; this would
normally be an NFS-mounted spool directory of a master server with longer
expiration times.
- -r
- By default, the program sets its standard error to <pathlog in inn.conf>/errlog.
To suppress this redirection, use the ``-r'' flag.
- -v
- Upon exit, batcher reports
statistics via syslog(3)
. If the ``-v'' flag is used, they will also be printed
on the standard output.
- -b
- Batcher collects the text of the named articles
into batches. To limit the size of each batch, use the ``-b'' flag. The default
size is 60 kilobytes. Using ``-b0'' allows unlimited batch sizes.
- -a
- To limit the
number of articles in each batch, use the ``-a'' flag. The default is no limit.
A new batch will be started when either the byte count or number of articles
written exceeds the specified limits.
- -B
- To limit the total number of bytes
written for all batches, use the ``-B'' flag.
- -A
- To limit the total number of
articles that can be batched use the ``-A'' flag.
- -N
- To limit the total number
of batches that should be created use the ``-N'' flag.
- In all three cases, the
default is zero, which is taken to mean no limit.
- -i string
- A batch starts
with an identifying line to specify the unpacking method to be used on
the receiving end. When the ``-i'' flag is used, the initial string, string,
followed by a newline, will be output at the start of every batch. The default
is to have no initial string.
- -s
- Each article starts with a separator line
to indicate the size of the article. To specify the separator use the ``-s''
flag. This is a sprintf(3)
format string which can have a single ``%ld'' parameter
which will be given the size of the article. If the separator is not empty,
then the string and a newline will be output before every article. The default
separator is ``#! rnews %ld''.
- -p
- By default, batches are written to standard
output, which is not useful when more than one output batch is created.
Use the ``-p'' flag to specify the shell command that should be created (via
popen(3)
) whenever a new batch is started. The process is a sprintf format
string which can have a single ``%s'' parameter which will be given the host
name. A common value is:
( echo '#! cunbatch' ; exec compress ) | uux - -r -z %s!rnews
If the input is exhausted, batcher will exit with a zero status.
If any of the limits specified with the ``-B,'' ``-A,'' or ``-N'' flags is reached, or
if there is an error writing the batch, then batcher will try to spool
the input, copying it to a file. If there was no input filename, the standard
input will be copied to <pathoutgoing in inn.conf>/host and the program will
exit. If an input filename was given, a temporary file named input.bch (if
input is an absolute pathname) or <pathoutgoing in inn.conf>/input.bch (if
the filename does not begin with a slash) is created. Once the input is
copied, batcher will try to rename this temporary file to be the name of
the input file, and then exit.
Upon receipt of an interrupt or termination
signal, batcher will finish sending the current article, close the batch,
and then rewrite the batchfile according as described in the previous paragraph.
Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews. This is revision
1.5.6.1, dated 2000/08/17.
ctlinnd(8)
, inn.conf(5)
, newsfeeds(5)
, shlock(1)
.
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