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BATCHER(8)
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 <pathoutgoing in inn.conf>
directory. The input is taken as a sequence 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 either the storage token of an article or the name of a file
holding an article; if it is not an an absolute pathname or storage token,
it is taken relative to <patharticles in inn.conf>. The second field, if
present, specifies the size of the article in bytes.
OPTIONS
-S alt_spool
The ``-S'' flag may be used to specify an alternate spool directory to
use if the article is not found; this would perhaps be an NFS-mounted
spool directory of a master server with longer expiration times.
-r By default, the program reports errors to
<pathlog in inn.conf>/errlog. To suppress this redirection and report
errors to standard error, 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 size
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 ``-b 0'' allows unlimited batch sizes.
-a arts
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 total_size
To limit the total number of bytes written for all batches, use the
``-B'' flag.
-A total_arts
To limit the total number of articles that can be batched use the
``-A'' flag.
-N num_batches
To limit the total number of batches that should be created use the
``-N'' flag.
In all three of the above cases, the default is zero, that is, 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 separator
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 process
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(3) 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 remaining input, copying it to a file. If there was no input filename,
standard input will be copied to <pathoutgoing in inn.conf>/host and the
program will exit. If an input filename was given, the input will be
copied to a temporary file named input.bch (if input is an absolute
pathname) or <pathoutgoing in inn.conf>/input.bch (if the filename does not
begin with a slash). 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
Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews. This is
revision 6491, dated 2003-10-18.
SEE ALSO
ctlinnd(8), inn.conf(5), newsfeeds(5), shlock(1).
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