DXSpider deals seamlessly with standard AK1A type mail. It supports both -personal and bulletin mail and the sysop has additional commands to ensure -that mail gets to where it is meant. DXSpider will send mail almost -immediately, assuming that the target is on line. However, only one -mail message is dealt with at any one time. If a mail message is already -being sent or recieved, then the new message will be queued until it has -finished. -
The cluster mail is automatically deleted after 30 days unless the sysop -sets the "keep" flag using the msg command. +
Spider allows the creation of local or remote databases. It supports +chained databases, allowing several different databases to be scanned +with one simple command. Importing of databases is limited at present +to the standard AK1A databases such as OBLAST and the DB0SDX QSL +database but will expand with time.
-
Personal mail is sent using the sp command. This is actually the -default method of sending mail and so a simple s for send will do. -A full list of the send commands and options is in the command set -section, so I will not duplicate them here. +
Creating a database could not be more simple. All the commands are +sent from the cluster prompt as the sysop user. +
To create a database you use the command dbcreate. It can +be used in 3 different ways like so ..
-
Bulletin mail is sent by using the sb command. This is one of the -most common mistakes users make when sending mail. They send a bulletin -mail with s or sp instead of sb and of course -the message never leaves the cluster. This can be rectified by the sysop -by using the msg command. -
-
Bulletin addresses can be set using the Forward.pl file. -
-
DXSpider receives all and any mail sent to it without any alterations needed -in files. Because personal and bulletin mail are treated differently, there -is no need for a list of accepted bulletin addresses. It is necessary, however, -to tell the program which links accept which bulletins. For example, it is -pointless sending bulletins addresses to "UK" to any links other than UK -ones. The file that does this is called forward.pl and lives in /spider/msg. -At default, like other spider files it is named forward.pl.issue. Rename it -to forward.pl and edit the file to match your requirements. -The format is below ... +
+
+dbcreate <name>
+
+To simply create a database locally, you just tell the command the +name of the database. This does not create the actual database, it +simply defines it to say that it exists.
-#
-# this is an example message forwarding file for the system
-#
-# The format of each line is as follows
-#
-# type to/from/at pattern action destinations
-# P/B/F T/F/A regex I/F [ call [, call ...] ]
-#
-# type: P - private, B - bulletin (msg), F - file (ak1a bull)
-# to/from/at: T - to field, F - from field, A - home bbs, O - origin
-# pattern: a perl regex on the field requested
-# action: I - ignore, F - forward
-# destinations: a reference to an array containing node callsigns
-#
-# if it is non-private and isn't in here then it won't get forwarded
-#
-# Currently only type B msgs are affected by this code.
-#
-# The list is read from the top down, the first pattern that matches
-# causes the action to be taken.
-#
-# The pattern can be undef or 0 in which case it will always be selected
-# for the action specified
-#
-# If the BBS list is undef or 0 and the action is 'F' (and it matches the
-# pattern) then it will always be forwarded to every node that doesn't have
-# it (I strongly recommend you don't use this unless you REALLY mean it, if
-# you allow a new link with this on EVERY bull will be forwarded immediately
-# on first connection)
-#
-
-package DXMsg;
-
-@forward = (
-'B', 'T', 'LOCAL', 'F', [ qw(GB7MBC) ],
-'B', 'T', 'ALL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
-'B', 'T', 'UK', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
-'B', 'T', 'QSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
-'B', 'T', 'QSLINF', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
-'B', 'T', 'DX', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
-'B', 'T', 'DXINFO', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
-'B', 'T', 'DXNEWS', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
-'B', 'T', 'DXQSL', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
-'B', 'T', 'SYSOP', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX) ],
-'B', 'T', '50MHZ', 'F', [ qw(GB7BAA GB7ADX PA4AB-14) ],
-);
+dbcreate <name> chain <name> [<name>...]
Simply insert a bulletin address and state in the brackets where you wish -that mail to go. For example, you can see here that mail sent to "UK" will -only be sent to the UK links and not to PA4AB-14. +
This creates a chained database entry. The first database will be +scanned, then the second, the third etc...
-
To force the cluster to reread the file use load/forward +
+
+dbcreate <name> remote <name>
+
+This creates a remote entry. the first name field is the database +name at the remote node, then the remote switch, then the actual +node_call of the remote node, for example...
+
+
+dbcreate buckmaster remote gb7dxc
+
+Remote databases cannot be chained, however, the last database in a +chain can be a remote database.
-
The msg command is a very powerful and flexible tool for the -sysop. It allows the sysop to alter to and from fields and make other -changes to manage the cluster mail. -
Here is a full list of the various options ... +
The only databases that Spider can currently import are the standard +AK1A databases such as OBLAST or the DB0SDX qsl and address database. +This will be added to with time. +
To import such a database, first put the file somewhere useful like /tmp +and then issue the following command ...
- MSG TO <msgno> <call> - change TO callsign to <call>
- MSG FRom <msgno> <call> - change FROM callsign to <call>
- MSG PRrivate <msgno> - set private flag
- MSG NOPRrivate <msgno> - unset private flag
- MSG RR <msgno> - set RR flag
- MSG NORR <msgno> - unset RR flag
- MSG KEep <msgno> - set the keep flag (message won't be deleted ever)
- MSG NOKEep <msgno> - unset the keep flag
- MSG SUbject <msgno> <new> - change the subject to <new>
- MSG WAittime <msgno> - remove any waiting time for this message
- MSG NOREad <msgno> - mark message as unread
- MSG REad <msgno> - mark message as read
- MSG QUeue - queue any outstanding bulletins
- MSG QUeue 1 - queue any outstanding private messages
+dbimport oblast /tmp/OBLAST.FUL
These commands are simply typed from within the cluster as the sysop user. +
This will update the existing local oblast database or create it if +it does not exist.
-
You can check on a message from within the cluster by using the command -stat/msg. This will give you additional information on the -message number including which nodes have received it, which node it -was received from and when etc. Here is an example of the output of -the command ... +
Once a database is created, you will want to check that it has been +added. To do this use the dbavail command. This will +output the available databases. For example ...
-G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
-stat/msg 6869
- From: GB7DJK
- Msg Time: 26-Jan-2001 1302Z
- Msgno: 6869
- Origin: GB7DJK
- Size: 8012
- Subject: AMSAT 2line KEPS 01025.AMSAT
- To: UK
-Got it Nodes: GB7BAA, GB7ADX
- Private: 0
-Read Confirm: 0
- Times read: 0
-G0VGS de GB7MBC 28-Jan-2001 1308Z >
+dbavail
+DB Name Location Chain
+qsl Local
+buck GB7ADX
+hftest GB7DXM
+G0VGS de GB7MBC 3-Feb-2001 1925Z >
-
This is described in the section on Other filters so I will not -duplicate it here. +
To look for information in a defined database, simply use the dbshow +command, for example ...
-
Distribution lists are simply a list of users to send certain types of -mail to. An example of this is mail you only wish to send to other -sysops. In /spider/msg there is a directory called distro. You -put any distibution lists in here. For example, here is a file called -SYSOP.pl that caters for the UK sysops. +
+
+dbshow buckmaster G0YLM
+
+will show the information for the callsign G0YLM from the buckmaster +database if it exists. To make things more standard for the users +you can add an entry in the Aliases file so that it looks like a standard +show command like this ...
-qw(GB7TLH GB7DJK GB7DXM GB7CDX GB7BPQ GB7DXN GB7MBC GB7MBC-6 GB7MDX
- GB7NDX GB7SDX GB7TDX GB7UDX GB7YDX GB7ADX GB7BAA GB7DXA GB7DXH
- GB7DXK GB7DXI GB7DXS)
+'^sh\w*/buc', 'dbshow buckmaster', 'dbshow',
Any mail sent to "sysop" would only be sent to the callsigns in this list. +
Now you can simply use show/buckmaster or an abreviation.
-
Spider provides a simple BBS interface. No input is required from the sysop -of the cluster at all. The BBS simply sets the cluster as a BBS and pushes -any required mail to the cluster. No mail can flow from Spider to the BBS, -the interface is one-way. +
To delete an existing database you use the dbremove command. +For example ...
-
Please be careful not to flood the cluster network with unnecessary mail. -Make sure you only send mail to the clusters that want it by using the -Forward.pl file very carefully. +
+
+dbremove oblast
+
+would remove the oblast database and its associated datafile from the +system. There are no warnings or recovery possible from this command. +If you remove a database it ceases to exist and would have to be created +from scratch if you still required it.