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15 <H2><A NAME="s8">8. Information, files and useful programs</A></H2>
17 <H2><A NAME="ss8.1">8.1 MOTD</A>
20 <P>One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get information to his users. The simplest way to do
21 this is to have a banner that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message of the day" or "motd". To set this
22 up, simply create a file in /spider/data called motd and edit it to say whatever you want. It is purely a text file and
23 will be sent automatically to anyone logging in to the cluster.
25 <H2><A NAME="ss8.2">8.2 Downtime message</A>
28 <P>If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or maintenance but the machine is still running, a message can be
29 sent to the user advising them of the fact. This message lives in the /spider/data directory and is called "offline". Simply
30 create the file and edit it to say whatever you wish. This file will be sent to a user attempting to log into the cluster
31 when DXSpider is not actually running.
33 <H2><A NAME="ss8.3">8.3 Other text messages</A>
36 <P>You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input the file name. This could be for news items or maybe
37 information for new users. To set this up, make a directory under /spider called <EM>packclus</EM>. Under this directory you
38 can create files called <EM>news</EM> or <EM>newuser</EM> for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like.
39 These can be listed by the user with the command ....
46 <P>They can be read by the user by typing the command ....
53 <P>If the file they want to read is called <EM>news</EM>. You could also set an alias for this in the Alias file to allow them
54 just to type <EM>news</EM>
56 <P>You can also store other information in this directory, either directly or nested under directories. One use for this would
57 be to store DX bulletins such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed and read by the user. To keep things tidy, make a
58 directory under /spider/packclus called <EM>bulletins</EM>. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These can be
59 listed by the user in the same way as above using the <EM>show/files</EM> command with an extension for the bulletins
60 directory you have just created, like this ....
68 <P>An example would look like this ....
73 bulletins DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
76 <P>You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory) there is a file called <EM>news</EM> and a directory
77 called <EM>bulletins</EM>. You can also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file <EM>news</EM>, you can
78 also see the time it was last modified, a good clue as to whether the file has been updated since you last read it. To read
79 the file called <EM>news</EM> you would simply issue the command ....
86 <P>To look what is in the bulletins directory you issue the command ....
91 opdx390 21381 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx390.1 1670 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
92 opdx390.2 2193 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx391 25045 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
93 opdx392 35969 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx393 15023 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
94 opdx394 33429 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx394.1 3116 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
95 opdx395 24319 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396 32647 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
96 opdx396.1 5537 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396.2 6242 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
97 opdx397 18433 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx398 19961 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
98 opdx399 17719 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx400 19600 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
99 opdx401 27738 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx402 18698 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
100 opdx403 24994 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx404 15685 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
101 opdx405 13984 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx405.1 4166 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
102 opdx406 28934 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx407 24153 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
103 opdx408 15081 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx409 23234 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
104 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (16 lines) >
107 <P>You can now read any file in this directory using the type command, like this ....
111 type bulletins/opdx391
112 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
113 The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
117 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
118 Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
119 Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
120 Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
121 Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
122 & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
123 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
126 <P>The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to!
128 <H2><A NAME="ss8.4">8.4 The Aliases file</A>
131 <P>You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. First, copy this file to /spider/local_cmd/Aliases and edit this file.
132 You will see something like this ...
139 # provide some standard aliases for commands for terminally
140 # helpless ak1a user (helpless in the sense that they never
141 # read nor understand help files)
143 # This file is automagically reloaded if its modification time is
144 # later than the one stored in CmdAlias.pm
146 # PLEASE make this file consistant with reality! (the patterns MUST
147 # match the filenames!)
149 # Don't alter this file, copy it into the local_cmd tree and modify it.
150 # This file will be replaced everytime I issue a new release.
152 # You only need to put aliases in here for commands that don't work as
153 # you desire naturally, e.g sh/dx on its own just works as you expect
154 # so you need not add it as an alias.
162 '^\?', 'apropos', 'apropos',
165 '^ann.*/full', 'announce full', 'announce',
166 '^ann.*/sysop', 'announce sysop', 'announce',
167 '^ann.*/(.*)$', 'announce $1', 'announce',
174 '^del', 'kill', 'kill',
175 '^del\w*/fu', 'kill full', 'kill',
176 '^di\w*/a\w*', 'directory all', 'directory',
177 '^di\w*/b\w*', 'directory bulletins', 'directory',
178 '^di\w*/n\w*', 'directory new', 'directory',
179 '^di\w*/o\w*', 'directory own', 'directory',
180 '^di\w*/s\w*', 'directory subject', 'directory',
181 '^di\w*/t\w*', 'directory to', 'directory',
182 '^di\w*/f\w*', 'directory from', 'directory',
183 '^di\w*/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
200 '^l$', 'directory', 'directory',
201 '^ll$', 'directory', 'directory',
202 '^ll/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
207 '^news', 'type news', 'type',
217 '^r$', 'read', 'read',
218 '^rcmd/(\S+)', 'rcmd $1', 'rcmd',
221 '^s/p$', 'send', 'send',
222 '^sb$', 'send noprivate', 'send',
223 '^set/home$', 'set/homenode', 'set/homenode',
224 '^set/nobe', 'unset/beep', 'unset/beep',
225 '^set/nohe', 'unset/here', 'unset/here',
226 '^set/noan', 'unset/announce', 'unset/announce',
227 '^set/nodx', 'unset/dx', 'unset/dx',
228 '^set/nota', 'unset/talk', 'unset/talk',
229 '^set/noww', 'unset/wwv', 'unset/wwv',
230 '^set/nowx', 'unset/wx', 'unset/wx',
231 '^sh$', 'show', 'show',
232 '^sh\w*/buck', 'dbshow buck', 'dbshow',
233 '^sh\w*/bu', 'show/files bulletins', 'show/files',
234 '^sh\w*/c/n', 'show/configuration nodes', 'show/configuration',
235 '^sh\w*/c$', 'show/configuration', 'show/configuration',
236 '^sh\w*/com', 'dbavail', 'dbavail',
237 '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/dx $1-$2', 'show/dx',
238 '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)', 'show/dx $1', 'show/dx',
239 '^sh\w*/dx/d(\d+)', 'show/dx from $1', 'show/dx',
240 '^sh\w*/email', 'dbshow email', 'dbshow',
241 '^sh\w*/hftest', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
242 '^sh\w*/vhftest', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
243 '^sh\w*/qsl', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
244 '^sh\w*/tnc', 'who', 'who',
245 '^sh\w*/up', 'show/cluster', 'show/cluster',
246 '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1-$2', 'show/wwv',
247 '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1', 'show/wwv',
248 '^sp$', 'send', 'send',
252 '^ta$', 'talk', 'talk',
253 '^t$', 'talk', 'talk',
260 '^wx/full', 'wx full', 'wx',
261 '^wx/sysop', 'wx sysop', 'wx',
272 <P>You can create aliases for commands at will. Beware though, these may not always turn out as you think. Care is needed
273 and you need to test the results once you have set an alias.
275 <H2><A NAME="ss8.5">8.5 Forward.pl</A>
278 <P>DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations needed
279 in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated differently, there
280 is no need for a list of accepted bulletin addresses. It is necessary, however,
281 to tell the program which links accept which bulletins. For example, it is
282 pointless sending bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK
283 ones. The file that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg.
284 At default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename it
285 to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements.
286 The format is below ...
291 # this is an example message forwarding file for the system
293 # The format of each line is as follows
295 # type to/from/at pattern action destinations
296 # P/B/F T/F/A regex I/F [ call [, call ...] ]
298 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
299 # to/from/at: T - to field, F - from field, A - home bbs, O - origin
300 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
301 # action: I - ignore, F - forward
302 # destinations: a reference to an array containing node callsigns
304 # if it is non-private and isn't in here then it won't get forwarded
306 # Currently only type B msgs are affected by this code.
308 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
309 # causes the action to be taken.
311 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
312 # for the action specified
314 # If the BBS list is undef or 0 and the action is 'F' (and it matches the
315 # pattern) then it will always be forwarded to every node that doesn't have
316 # it (I strongly recommend you don't use this unless you REALLY mean it, if
317 # you allow a new link with this on EVERY bull will be forwarded immediately
318 # on first connection)
324 'B', 'T', 'LOCAL', 'F', [ qw(GB7MBC) ],
325 'B', 'T', 'ALL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
326 'B', 'T', 'UK', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
327 'B', 'T', 'QSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
328 'B', 'T', 'QSLINF', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
329 'B', 'T', 'DX', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
330 'B', 'T', 'DXINFO', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
331 'B', 'T', 'DXNEWS', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
332 'B', 'T', 'DXQSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
333 'B', 'T', 'SYSOP', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
334 'B', 'T', '50MHZ', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
338 <P>Simply insert a bulletin address and state in the brackets where you wish
339 that mail to go. For example, you can see here that mail sent to "UK" will
340 only be sent to the UK links and not to PA4AB-14.
342 <P>To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
344 <H2><A NAME="ss8.6">8.6 Distribution lists</A>
347 <P>Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of
348 mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other
349 sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called <EM>distro</EM>. You
350 put any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called
351 SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops.
355 qw(GB7TLH GB7DJK GB7DXM GB7CDX GB7BPQ GB7DXN GB7MBC GB7MBC-6 GB7MDX
356 GB7NDX GB7SDX GB7TDX GB7UDX GB7YDX GB7ADX GB7BAA GB7DXA GB7DXH
357 GB7DXK GB7DXI GB7DXS)
360 <P>Any mail sent to "sysop" would only be sent to the callsigns in this list.
362 <H2><A NAME="ss8.7">8.7 Console.pl</A>
365 <P>In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for the sysop. This has a type ahead buffer with line
366 editing facilities and colour for spots, announces etc.
367 To use this program, simply use console.pl instead of client.pl.
369 <P>To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the file with your favourite editor.
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