Ubuntu Manpage: batcher - article batching backend for InterNetNews

NAME

       batcher - article batching backend for InterNetNews

SYNOPSIS

       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
       ]

DESCRIPTION

       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  /var/spool/news/out.going  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,  /var/spool/news.   The  second
       field, if present, specifies the size of the article in bytes.

OPTIONS

-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 /var/log/news/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

EXIT STATUS

       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
       /var/spool/news/out.going/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
       /var/spool/news/out.going/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.

HISTORY