BUFFCHAN(8)						      System Manager's Manual						       BUFFCHAN(8)

NAME

       buffchan - buffered file-writing backend for InterNetNews

SYNOPSIS

       buffchan  [  -b ] [ -c lines ] [ -C seconds ] [ -d directory ] [ -f fields ] [ -m map ] [ -p pidfile ] [ -l lines ] [ -L seconds ] [ -r ] [
       -s file_format ] [ -u ]

DESCRIPTION

       Buffchan reads lines from standard input and copies certain fields in each line into files named by other fields within the line.  Buffchan
       is intended to be called by innd(8) as an exploder feed.

OPTIONS

       -b     Once  buffchan  opens  a	file it keeps it open.	The input must therefore never specify more files than can the number of available
	      descriptors can keep open.  If the ``-b'' flag is used, the program will allocate a buffer and attach it	to  the  file  using  set-
	      buf(3).

       -c     If the ``-c'' flag is used with a number n, then buffchan will close, and re-open, a file after every n lines are written to a file.

       -C     Similarly, the ``-C'' flag may be used to specify that all files should be closed and re-opened every n seconds.

       -d     The  ``-d''  flag  may  be used to specify a directory the program should change to before starting.  If this flag is used, then the
	      default for the ``-s'' flag is changed to be a simple ``%s.''

       -f     Buffchan input is interpreted as a set of lines.	Each line contains a fixed number of initial fields, followed by a variable number
	      of filename fields.  All fields in a line are separated by whitespace.  The default number of initial fields is one; the ``-f'' flag
	      may be used to specify a different number of fields.  See filechan(8) for an example.

       -p     If the ``-p'' flag is used, the program will write a line containing its process ID (in text) to the specified file.

       -l     If the ``-l'' flag is used with a number n, then buffchan will call fflush(3) after every n lines are written to a file.

       -L     If the ``-L'' flag is used with a number n, then all files will be flushed every n seconds.

       -r     By default, the program sets its standard error to /var/log/news/errlog.	To suppress this redirection, use the ``-r'' flag.

       -s     After the initial fields, each remaining field names a file to write.  The ``-s'' flag may be used to specify a format  string  that
	      maps  the  field to a file name.	This is a sprintf(3) format string which should have a single ``%s'' parameter which will be given
	      the field.  The default value is /var/spool/news/out.going/%s.  See the description of this flag in filechan(8).

       -u     If the ``-u'' flag is used, the program will request unbuffered output.

       Buffchan can be invoked as an exploder feed (see newsfeeds(5)).	As such, if a line starts with an exclamation point it will be treated	as
       a command.  There are three commands, described below:

       flush  The  ``flush'' command closes and re-opens all open files; ``flush xxx'' which flushes only the specified site.  These are analogous
	      to the ctlinnd(8) ``flush'' command, and can be achieved by doing a ``send "flush xxx"'' command.  Applications can  tell  that  the
	      ``flush''  has completed by renaming the file before issuing the command; buffchan has completed the command when the original file-
	      name re-appears.

	      Buffchan also changes the access permissions of the file from read-only for everyone to read-write for owner and group as it flushes
	      or closes each output file.  It will change the modes back to read-only if it re-opens the same file.

       drop   The  ``drop''  command  is similar to the ``flush'' command except that any files are not re-opened.  If given an argument, then the
	      specified site is dropped, otherwise all sites are dropped.  (Note that the site will be restarted if the input stream mentions  the
	      site.)   When a ctlinnd ``drop site'' command is sent, innd will automatically forward the command to buffchan if the site is a fun-
	      nel that feeds into this exploder.  To drop all sites, use the ctlinnd ``send buffchan-site drop'' command.

       readmap
	      The map file (specified with the ``-m'' flag) is reloaded.

HISTORY

       Written by Rich $alz <rsalz@uunet.uu.net> for InterNetNews.  This is revision 1.11, dated 1996/10/29.

SEE ALSO

       ctlinnd(8), filechan(8), innd(8), newsfeeds(5).

																       BUFFCHAN(8)