NAME

       makedat - create GDBM/DB files for maildrop

SYNOPSIS

       makedat {-src=textfile} {-tmp=tmpfile} {-file=gdbmfile} [-cidr]

DESCRIPTION

       The gdbm family of functions in maildrop provides access to GDBM/DB databases - simple database files.
       The gdbm family of functions provide a way of quickly storing and looking up key/data pairs.

       You can use any program to create GDBM/DB database files.  makedat is a quick utility to create GDBM or
       DB files from plain text files.

       The system administrator selects whether maildrop uses GDBM or DB database files and whether makedat
       creates GDBM or DB database files as well.

       The makedat command may not be available to you. GDBM/DB support in maildrop is optional, and the system
       administrator may choose not to install GDBM/DB support and the makedat command.

       To see whether GDBM or DB support is being used, run the command "maildrop -v".

       The textfile argument to makedat is a plain text file containing key/value pairs. Each line in the text
       file contains a key value, followed by a tab and a data value. The data value may be omitted, which
       defaults to "1". For example, the following three lines:

           example.com

           domain.com<tab>ok

           foo.domain.com<tab>bad

       Three key/value pairs are created: example.com, value "1"; domain.com, value "ok", and "foo.domain.com",
       value "bad".

       Empty lines in textfile, and lines starting with the # character, are ignored.

       textfile can be "-", in which case standard input is used.

       gdbmfile is the GDBM/DB file to create. If this file exists, its existing contents are replaced.

       tmpfile is a name of a temporary file in the same directory as gdbmfile.  tmpfile is used by makedat to
       create the GDBM file, then tmpfile is renamed to gdbmfile.

       This approach foregoes any need for locking in order to be able to dynamically update GDBM/DB files used
       by maildrop's gdbm functions. However, makedat does not use any locks on tmpfile, so multiple instances
       of makedat using the same tmpfile are prohibited.

       The -cidr flag specifies that the key is an IP netblock in CIDR notation. This flag requires the
       Net::CIDR Perl module to be installed separately. Download Net::CIDR from http://www.cpan.org.

BUGS

       There are historical reasons why database functions in maildrop are called gdbm functions. The initial
       implementation used GDBM functions exclusively. The ability to use the DB library instead of the GDBM
       library has been added later.

EXAMPLE

           makedat blacklist /etc/mail/blacklist.tmp /etc/mail/blacklist.dat

       Takes blacklist, and creates /etc/mail/blacklist.dat, using /etc/mail/blacklist.tmp as a temporary file.

SEE ALSO

       maildrop(1)[1], maildropgdbm(5)[2].

AUTHOR

       Sam Varshavchik
           Author

NOTES

        1. maildrop(1)
           http://www.courier-mta.org/maildrop/maildrop.html

        2. maildropgdbm(5)
           http://www.courier-mta.org/maildrop/maildropgdbm.html