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16 <H2><A NAME="s9">9. Information, files and useful programs</A></H2>
18 <H2><A NAME="ss9.1">9.1 MOTD</A>
21 <P>One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get
22 information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a banner
23 that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message of the day"
24 or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in /spider/data called motd
25 and edit it to say whatever you want. It is purely a text file and will be
26 sent automatically to anyone logging in to the cluster.
28 <H2><A NAME="ss9.2">9.2 Downtime message</A>
31 <P>If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or maintenance but
32 the machine is still running, a message can be sent to the user advising them
33 of the fact. This message lives in the /spider/data directory and is called
34 "offline". Simply create the file and edit it to say whatever you wish.
35 This file will be sent to a user attempting to log into the cluster when
36 DXSpider is not actually running.
38 <H2><A NAME="ss9.3">9.3 Other text messages</A>
41 <P>You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input the file
42 name. This could be for news items or maybe information for new users.
43 To set this up, make a directory under /spider called <EM>packclus</EM>.
44 Under this directory you can create files called <EM>news</EM> or <EM>newuser</EM>
45 for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like. These can
46 be listed by the user with the command ....
53 <P>They can be read by the user by typing the command ....
60 <P>If the file they want to read is called <EM>news</EM>. You could also set
61 an alias for this in the Alias file to allow them just to type <EM>news</EM>
63 <P>You can also store other information in this directory, either directly or
64 nested under directories. One use for this would be to store DX bulletins
65 such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed and read by the user.
66 To keep things tidy, make a directory under /spider/packclus called
67 <EM>bulletins</EM>. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These
68 can be listed by the user in the same way as above using the <EM>show/files</EM>
69 command with an extension for the bulletins directory you have just created,
78 <P>An example would look like this ....
83 bulletins DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
86 <P>You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory) there is a
87 file called <EM>news</EM> and a directory called <EM>bulletins</EM>. You can
88 also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file <EM>news</EM>,
89 you can also see the time it was last modified, a good clue as to whether the
90 file has been updated since you last read it. To read the file called
91 <EM>news</EM> you would simply issue the command ....
98 <P>To look what is in the bulletins directory you issue the command ....
103 opdx390 21381 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx390.1 1670 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
104 opdx390.2 2193 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx391 25045 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
105 opdx392 35969 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx393 15023 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
106 opdx394 33429 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx394.1 3116 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
107 opdx395 24319 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396 32647 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
108 opdx396.1 5537 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396.2 6242 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
109 opdx397 18433 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx398 19961 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
110 opdx399 17719 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx400 19600 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
111 opdx401 27738 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx402 18698 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
112 opdx403 24994 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx404 15685 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
113 opdx405 13984 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx405.1 4166 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
114 opdx406 28934 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx407 24153 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
115 opdx408 15081 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx409 23234 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
116 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (16 lines) >
119 <P>You can now read any file in this directory using the type command, like this ....
123 type bulletins/opdx391
124 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
125 The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
129 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
130 Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
131 Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
132 Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
133 Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
134 & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
135 Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
138 <P>The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to!
140 <H2><A NAME="ss9.4">9.4 The Aliases file</A>
143 <P>You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. First, copy this file to
144 /spider/local_cmd/Aliases and edit this file. You will see something like this ...
151 # provide some standard aliases for commands for terminally
152 # helpless ak1a user (helpless in the sense that they never
153 # read nor understand help files)
155 # This file is automagically reloaded if its modification time is
156 # later than the one stored in CmdAlias.pm
158 # PLEASE make this file consistant with reality! (the patterns MUST
159 # match the filenames!)
161 # Don't alter this file, copy it into the local_cmd tree and modify it.
162 # This file will be replaced everytime I issue a new release.
164 # You only need to put aliases in here for commands that don't work as
165 # you desire naturally, e.g sh/dx on its own just works as you expect
166 # so you need not add it as an alias.
174 '^\?', 'apropos', 'apropos',
177 '^ann.*/full', 'announce full', 'announce',
178 '^ann.*/sysop', 'announce sysop', 'announce',
179 '^ann.*/(.*)$', 'announce $1', 'announce',
186 '^del', 'kill', 'kill',
187 '^del\w*/fu', 'kill full', 'kill',
188 '^di\w*/a\w*', 'directory all', 'directory',
189 '^di\w*/b\w*', 'directory bulletins', 'directory',
190 '^di\w*/n\w*', 'directory new', 'directory',
191 '^di\w*/o\w*', 'directory own', 'directory',
192 '^di\w*/s\w*', 'directory subject', 'directory',
193 '^di\w*/t\w*', 'directory to', 'directory',
194 '^di\w*/f\w*', 'directory from', 'directory',
195 '^di\w*/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
212 '^l$', 'directory', 'directory',
213 '^ll$', 'directory', 'directory',
214 '^ll/(\d+)', 'directory $1', 'directory',
219 '^news', 'type news', 'type',
229 '^r$', 'read', 'read',
230 '^rcmd/(\S+)', 'rcmd $1', 'rcmd',
233 '^s/p$', 'send', 'send',
234 '^sb$', 'send noprivate', 'send',
235 '^set/home$', 'set/homenode', 'set/homenode',
236 '^set/nobe', 'unset/beep', 'unset/beep',
237 '^set/nohe', 'unset/here', 'unset/here',
238 '^set/noan', 'unset/announce', 'unset/announce',
239 '^set/nodx', 'unset/dx', 'unset/dx',
240 '^set/nota', 'unset/talk', 'unset/talk',
241 '^set/noww', 'unset/wwv', 'unset/wwv',
242 '^set/nowx', 'unset/wx', 'unset/wx',
243 '^sh$', 'show', 'show',
244 '^sh\w*/buck', 'dbshow buck', 'dbshow',
245 '^sh\w*/bu', 'show/files bulletins', 'show/files',
246 '^sh\w*/c/n', 'show/configuration nodes', 'show/configuration',
247 '^sh\w*/c$', 'show/configuration', 'show/configuration',
248 '^sh\w*/com', 'dbavail', 'dbavail',
249 '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/dx $1-$2', 'show/dx',
250 '^sh\w*/dx/(\d+)', 'show/dx $1', 'show/dx',
251 '^sh\w*/dx/d(\d+)', 'show/dx from $1', 'show/dx',
252 '^sh\w*/email', 'dbshow email', 'dbshow',
253 '^sh\w*/hftest', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
254 '^sh\w*/vhftest', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
255 '^sh\w*/qsl', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
256 '^sh\w*/tnc', 'who', 'who',
257 '^sh\w*/up', 'show/cluster', 'show/cluster',
258 '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)-(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1-$2', 'show/wwv',
259 '^sh\w*/w\w*/(\d+)', 'show/wwv $1', 'show/wwv',
260 '^sp$', 'send', 'send',
264 '^ta$', 'talk', 'talk',
265 '^t$', 'talk', 'talk',
272 '^wx/full', 'wx full', 'wx',
273 '^wx/sysop', 'wx sysop', 'wx',
284 <P>You can create aliases for commands at will. Beware though, these may not
285 always turn out as you think. Care is needed and you need to test the
286 results once you have set an alias.
288 <H2><A NAME="ss9.5">9.5 Forward.pl</A>
291 <P>DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations needed
292 in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated differently, there
293 is no need for a list of accepted bulletin addresses. It is necessary, however,
294 to tell the program which links accept which bulletins. For example, it is
295 pointless sending bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK
296 ones. The file that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg.
297 At default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename it
298 to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements.
299 The format is below ...
304 # this is an example message forwarding file for the system
306 # The format of each line is as follows
308 # type to/from/at pattern action destinations
309 # P/B/F T/F/A regex I/F [ call [, call ...] ]
311 # type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
312 # to/from/at: T - to field, F - from field, A - home bbs, O - origin
313 # pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
314 # action: I - ignore, F - forward
315 # destinations: a reference to an array containing node callsigns
317 # if it is non-private and isn't in here then it won't get forwarded
319 # Currently only type B msgs are affected by this code.
321 # The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
322 # causes the action to be taken.
324 # The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
325 # for the action specified
327 # If the BBS list is undef or 0 and the action is 'F' (and it matches the
328 # pattern) then it will always be forwarded to every node that doesn't have
329 # it (I strongly recommend you don't use this unless you REALLY mean it, if
330 # you allow a new link with this on EVERY bull will be forwarded immediately
331 # on first connection)
337 'B', 'T', 'LOCAL', 'F', [ qw(GB7MBC) ],
338 'B', 'T', 'ALL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
339 'B', 'T', 'UK', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
340 'B', 'T', 'QSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
341 'B', 'T', 'QSLINF', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
342 'B', 'T', 'DX', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
343 'B', 'T', 'DXINFO', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
344 'B', 'T', 'DXNEWS', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
345 'B', 'T', 'DXQSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
346 'B', 'T', 'SYSOP', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
347 'B', 'T', '50MHZ', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
351 <P>Simply insert a bulletin address and state in the brackets where you wish
352 that mail to go. For example, you can see here that mail sent to "UK" will
353 only be sent to the UK links and not to PA4AB-14.
355 <P>To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward
357 <H2><A NAME="ss9.6">9.6 Distribution lists</A>
360 <P>Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of
361 mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other
362 sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called <EM>distro</EM>. You
363 put any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called
364 SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops.
368 qw(GB7TLH GB7DJK GB7DXM GB7CDX GB7BPQ GB7DXN GB7MBC GB7MBC-6 GB7MDX
369 GB7NDX GB7SDX GB7TDX GB7UDX GB7YDX GB7ADX GB7BAA GB7DXA GB7DXH
370 GB7DXK GB7DXI GB7DXS)
373 <P>Any mail sent to "sysop" would only be sent to the callsigns in this list.
375 <H2><A NAME="ss9.7">9.7 Console.pl</A>
378 <P>In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for the sysop.
379 This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities and colour for spots,
380 announces etc. To use this program, simply use console.pl instead of client.pl.
382 <P>To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the
383 file with your favourite editor.
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