Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!shadooby!samsung!munnari.oz.au!basser!ultima!nick
From: nick@ultima.cs.uts.oz (Nick Andrew)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: Vn for Minix, part 1 of 4
Message-ID: <16693@ultima.cs.uts.oz>
Date: 29 Nov 89 12:34:23 GMT
References: <699@ccadfa.adfa.oz.au>
Organization: Comp Sci, NSWIT, Australia
Lines: 60

From article <699@ccadfa.adfa.oz.au>, by wkt@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au (Warren Toomey):
> In article <16666@ultima.cs.uts.oz>, nick@ultima.cs.uts.oz (Nick Andrew) writes:
>> 
>> 	Since I've been using this Vn under Minix for over 6 months without
...
> Just one question, how do you get news items onto your PC/ST??

	Very messily. I have an entry in the sys file, which looks like:

minix:world,aus,syd,sci,to.zeta:F:

(note that Minix can't handle that many groups ... aus.* and sci.* give
the unbatcher a fair strapping!)

from cron, this command is executed daily:

0 0 * * * /system/news/LIB/sendbatch -s35000 -b12 -c minix

the /system/news/BATCH/minix.cmd file contains:

#!/bin/csh
#  batching file for Nick's Minix news system ...
#  basically, what I want to happen is this:
#	inews updates the batch file /system/news/BATCH/minix
#	only once per day root runs "sendbatch -b12 -c minix"
# (I would have fido do it, but it seems to need news +fido permissions)
#	this script puts the batch into a unique filename and
#	does a "putfile" to 713.777 which is the id of the Minix
#	every so often, my Minix calls up and downloads those files using
#	fidonet (or some other) protocol (such as Zmodem).

	set da=`date`
	set m=$da[2]
	set d=$da[3]
	set seq=`cat /system/fido/filesout/713.777.seq`
	@ seq = $seq + 1
	echo $seq >/system/fido/filesout/713.777.seq
	cat > /system/fido/Newslog/bn$seq.bat.Z
	~fido/bin/putfile /system/fido/Newslog/bn$seq.bat.Z 713.777
	rm -f /system/fido/Newslog/bn$seq.bat.Z
	echo `id` sendbatch minix done `date` >>/system/fido/gather.log
	exit 0


... which is fairly self explanatory. The files bn*.bat.Z are collected,
every so often I call and transfer a whack of them via Zmodem.

Once I receive the files I run the news 2.11 unbatcher on them, which runs
inews etc... and they're done.  I said earlier that the unbatcher was
pretty strapped for capacity ... the average batch ends up about 40k
long, and it takes my Minix 40 minutes on average to unbatch 10 of these
batches.

	Hope this clarifies things somewhat ...  Nick.

-- 
		"Zeta Microcomputer Software"
ACSnet:    nick@ultima.cs.uts.oz
UUCP:      ...!uunet!munnari!ultima.cs.uts.oz!nick
Fidonet:   Nick Andrew on 3:713/602 (Zeta)