[comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer] Mail server for FAQ file and SIMTEL20 index

raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) (03/24/90)

[Note to those following along at home:  The syntax of the "lookup"
 command has changed radically.  I have added comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer
 because it seems that lots of "Where can I get a program to..." requests
 are getting posted there instead of to comp.sys.ibm.pc.]

[@(#)help	1.16, last update: 3/23/90]

To access the FAQ server, send a piece of email with the subject
"Command" to raymond@math.berkeley.edu.  That's a capital "C" and a
lowercase "ommand".  (If you mess it up, you will not receive a reply.)
The body of the message may contain any of the following commands:

path your-return-address                [optional]
	Bang-style addresses (based at any major node) and domain-style
	addresses are acceptable.  If you don't get a response, it
	might be because the reply bounced.  Give a better path here.

send filename
        Sends the latest version of the specified file.  For a directory
	listing, do a `send directory'.

lookup search-list
        Looks in SIMTEL20's MS-DOS directory index for any file whose
        filename or description matches the search-list you supply.

	A search-list consists of one or more search strings enclosed
	by slashes, separated by && or || (meaning "and" and "or", of course)
	with parentheses to specify grouping.   ! negates a search string.
	The search is case-sensitive, unless the letter "i" immediately 
	follows the closing slash.  "i" stands for "ignore case".

	Example				Searches for

	lookup /modem/i			The word "modem" in upper or lowercase.
	lookup /VGA/			The word "VGA" in uppercase.
	lookup /printer/i&&/file/i	The word "printer" and "file" 
					simultaneously, regardless of case.
	lookup /modem/i||/kermit/i	Either the word "modem" or "kermit"
						in upper or lowercase.
	lookup /modem/i && !/Telix/	Modem things, but not Telix
	lookup (/screen/i || /monitor/i) && (/save/i || /blank/i)
					Explained below.

	The third example shows how you can combine searches to narrow
	down the scope of your search.  It would show you only programs
	whose descriptions contain both the words "printer" and "file".

	The fourth example shows how you can use a single "lookup" to
	search for several different things at once.  It is equivalent
	to two separate lookups

		lookup /modem/i
		lookup /kermit/i

	but it'll use less CPU time.

	The last example is how I would search for a screen blanker.
	It looks for any program whose description contains either
	the word "screen" or "monitor", and which also contains
	either the word "save" or "blank".  So descriptions like
	"blanks the screen" or "saves your monitor" will be found.

        Note to UN*X hackers:  The things inside slashes are actually
	interpreted as regular expressions, so you can use egrep-style 
	regexps to perform really sophisticated searches.

        If the lookup generates more than 100 matches, the output will
        be truncated.  If you want the whole list, ftp it from SIMTEL20.

end
        Marks the end of your mail.  Stick this on the end to
	prevent the server from choking on your signature.  
	Better yet, don't send a signature.

Note that the account is my regular account, so please, be gentle.
It's the only account I've got.  Due to the large number of CPU
cycles eaten up by the mail server, I will soon be limiting people
to one request per day.

Sample usage from a UNIX machine:  Suppose I want the latest copy of
the FAQ file and want to see if SIMTEL20 has any programs that let me
redirect printer output to a file.

        % mail -s Command raymond@math.berkeley.edu
        send faq.csip
        lookup /printer/i&&/file/i
        end
        ^D

I repeat:  The subject of your mail must be the word "Command",
capital C, lowercase "ommand", no quotation marks, no "Re:" in front,
just a pure naked "Command".  If you fail to follow these instructions,
the server will ignore your mail.
--
raymond@math.berkeley.edu     Maintainer of the csip Frequently Asked Questions