bionic (8) buffchan.8.gz

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NAME

       buffchan - buffered file-writing backend for InterNetNews

SYNOPSIS

       buffchan [ -b ] [ -c lines ] [ -C seconds ] [ -d directory ] [ -f fields ] [ -m map ] [ -p pidfile ] [ -l
       lines ] [ -L seconds ] [ -r ] [ -s file_format ] [ -u ]

DESCRIPTION

       Buffchan reads lines from standard input and copies certain fields in each line into files named by other
       fields within the line.  Buffchan is intended to be called by innd(8) as an exploder feed.

OPTIONS

       -b     Once  buffchan  opens  a file it keeps it open.  The input must therefore never specify more files
              than can the number of available descriptors can keep open.  If  the  ``-b''  flag  is  used,  the
              program will allocate a buffer and attach it to the file using setbuf(3).

       -c     If  the  ``-c''  flag is used with a number n, then buffchan will close, and re-open, a file after
              every n lines are written to a file.

       -C     Similarly, the ``-C'' flag may be used to specify that all files should be  closed  and  re-opened
              every n seconds.

       -d     The  ``-d''  flag may be used to specify a directory the program should change to before starting.
              If this flag is used, then the default for the ``-s'' flag is changed to be a simple ``%s.''

       -f     Buffchan input is interpreted as a set of lines.  Each line contains a  fixed  number  of  initial
              fields,  followed  by a variable number of filename fields.  All fields in a line are separated by
              whitespace.  The default number of initial fields is one; the ``-f'' flag may be used to specify a
              different number of fields.  See filechan(8) for an example.

       -p     If  the  ``-p'' flag is used, the program will write a line containing its process ID (in text) to
              the specified file.

       -l     If the ``-l'' flag is used with a number n, then buffchan will call fflush(3) after every n  lines
              are written to a file.

       -L     If the ``-L'' flag is used with a number n, then all files will be flushed every n seconds.

       -r     By  default,  the  program  sets  its  standard  error  to /var/log/news/errlog.  To suppress this
              redirection, use the ``-r'' flag.

       -s     After the initial fields, each remaining field names a file to write.  The ``-s'' flag may be used
              to specify a format string that maps the field to a file name.  This is a sprintf(3) format string
              which should have a single ``%s'' parameter which will be given the field.  The default  value  is
              /var/spool/news/out.going/%s.  See the description of this flag in filechan(8).

       -u     If the ``-u'' flag is used, the program will request unbuffered output.

       Buffchan  can  be  invoked  as  an  exploder  feed (see newsfeeds(5)).  As such, if a line starts with an
       exclamation point it will be treated as a command.  There are three commands, described below:

       flush  The ``flush'' command closes and re-opens all open files; ``flush xxx''  which  flushes  only  the
              specified  site.   These are analogous to the ctlinnd(8) ``flush'' command, and can be achieved by
              doing a ``send "flush xxx"'' command.  Applications can tell that the ``flush'' has  completed  by
              renaming the file before issuing the command; buffchan has completed the command when the original
              filename re-appears.

              Buffchan also changes the access permissions of the file from read-only for everyone to read-write
              for  owner  and  group as it flushes or closes each output file.  It will change the modes back to
              read-only if it re-opens the same file.

       drop   The ``drop'' command is similar to the ``flush'' command except that any files are not  re-opened.
              If  given an argument, then the specified site is dropped, otherwise all sites are dropped.  (Note
              that the site will be restarted if the input stream mentions the site.)   When  a  ctlinnd  ``drop
              site''  command  is sent, innd will automatically forward the command to buffchan if the site is a
              funnel that feeds into this exploder.  To drop all sites, use  the  ctlinnd  ``send  buffchan-site
              drop'' command.

       readmap
              The map file (specified with the ``-m'' flag) is reloaded.

HISTORY

       Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews.  This is revision 1.11, dated 1996/10/29.

SEE ALSO

       ctlinnd(8), filechan(8), innd(8), newsfeeds(5).

                                                                                                     BUFFCHAN(8)