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 batch-
     file.

     Batcher reads the named input file, or standard input if  no
     file  is given.  Relative pathnames are interpreted from the
     /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, /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
          /news/log/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 com-
          mand  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 /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 /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

     Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for  InterNetNews.
     This is revision 1.18, dated 1996/10/29.

SEE ALSO

     ctlinnd(8), newsfeeds(5), shlock(1).