SIGNIFY(1)						  Generate Semi-Random Signatures						SIGNIFY(1)

NAME

       signify - Program to generate semi-random signatures

SYNOPSIS

       signify [--fifo=$HOME/.signature] [--input=file] [--debug]

DESCRIPTION

       Signify	will take a signature description file ( ~/.signify or whatever file is specified by the --input=<file> option ) and create a ran-
       dom signature based on the information contained therein.  This allows the ability to do such things as pick a random quote for	each  mes-
       sage sent.

       Signify,  by  default,  will  write  the generated signature to standard output from where it can be redirected to overwrite the .signature
       file.  Alternatively, Signify can pipe it's output to a given 'fifo'.  Each read from that file will return a different signature.

       To use the FIFO feature, delete the current "$HOME/.signature" file and start Signify in the background like "signify  --fifo=$HOME/.signa-
       ture  &".   With this running, try "cat $HOME/.signature" a few times.  A different signature will be returned each time.  (Note: This fea-
       ture will probably work only on unix systems.)

       The --debug switch causes Signify to generate messages on what it is doing to stderr.  This switch is only meant to be useful to  the  pro-
       gram's maintainers.

CONFIGURATION

       The  definition	for  the  generated signatures is contained entirely within the .signify file contained in the user's home directory.  Any
       completely empty lines (lines with even a single space are considered part of the signature data) and those  lines  starting  with  a  hash
       character  (#)  are  completely	ignored.   Those lines starting with a percent sign (%) are considered commands and affect the way Signify
       behaves.

       Perl Command Substitution

       Signify can execute an arbitrary perl code fragment during the initial reading of the configuration file.  This can be used,  for  example,
       to  choose values or text depending on the environment in which Signify is being run.  To use this feature, simply enclose the desired perl
       code in back-tics (i.e. `perl code`).  Whatever the perl code evaluates to will be substituted in that spot.  No further variable substitu-
       tions  are  made  on the resulting text.  Signify is intelligent enough to recognize two back-tics together (often used as a better looking
       quotation mark) as not being a code fragment.  Thus, writting something like "``Stop,'' she said." will	appear	as  expected.	Note:  The
       entire code fragment must be contained on a single line of the input file.

       Defining Variables

       Signify	will  substitute variables within each line of the signature in much the same way as the shell would.  Any sequence of $WORD; will
       be replaced by the value corresponding to the name "WORD".  Case is significant but the trailing semicolon may be omitted if the next char-
       acter  is not a letter, digit, or underscore.  By default, these variables look up values inside the environment variables, but can also be
       defined or redefined within the .signify file itself with a command such as:

	   % $email=myid@mycompany.com

       Everything after the equal sign (=) is considered part of the value.  Variables can be used in the definition of  other	variables.   As  a
       special case, $$ will evaluate to a single dollar sign ($).

       The  special  variable  SIGWIDTH can be used to set the desired output width of the generated signature.  By default, this variable has the
       value "79".  There is also a BLANK variable you can place on a line to create a totally empty line when the signature is output.

       Including Other Files

       You can tell Signify to read another file in place of the current line with a command like:

	   % include $HOME/.signify-quotes

       For convienence, you can use a tilde (~) instead of $HOME to read a file relative to your home directory.

       Creating Alternates

       An unlimited number of "alternates" can be specified by using the "{", "|", and "}" commands.  When the signature is generated, only one of
       all the possible alternates will be output.  For example:

	   % {
	   This is the first possibility.
	   % |
	   This is the second possibility.
	   % |
	   This is the third (and last) possibility.
	   Note that alternatives can span multiple lines.
	   % }

       Creating Columns

       Signify	will  automatically  create  side-by-side  columns  with nice, even spacing by using the "(", "|", and ")" commands.  When output,
       everything will be padded out with spaces to fit nicely on the line.  For example:

	   % (
	   This is the
	   first column.
	   % |
	   This is the second.
	   % |
	   This is the third
	   (and last) column.
	   % )

       Nesting Sections

       Alternates and columns can be nested to any depth, though this can quickly become unwieldy and may not work exactly as expected, especially
       with  columns.	As  a general rule, only supply alignment options (eg. "center", "right") at the most outside level to do any text format-
       ting.  For example, if supplying multiple "alternates" within a column, put the alignment options on the column and not on the alternates.

       Section Command Options

       The "alternates" and "columns" commands can take options to alter how they behave.  The following is a list of supported options  and  what
       they do, though not all have meaning for both types of section.	Multiple options can be specified by separating them with a comma (,).

       bottom push  the  following lines of text to the bottom of a column should it have fewer lines than the longest column.	This option has no
	      meaning to "alternates" sections.

       center adjust the following lines to be centered on the page or in the column.  When used in an "alternates" section, an additional "=<num-
	      ber>" can be used to specify what column to center around instead of the middle of the page.

       exec   treat  the  following lines not as text to be included in the column or alternate, but as commands to be executed by the shell.  For
	      each command executed, if its return status is 0 then the output it produced is included at that point, otherwise the output is dis-
	      carded.	Any  included  text  is then aligned, etc. as usual.  This command is most useful for inserting random quotes generated by
	      programs such as fortune(6).

       left   adjust the following lines so they sit at the left margin.  This is the default horizontal alignment and most closely  reflects  how
	      the  lines are entered into the .signify file itself.  Note that pad spaces will still be placed on both sides of a column with this
	      type of alignment unless the minwidth option is also specified.

       minwidth
	      do not pad the left and right sides of this column when placing next to other columns.  This is useful for building column separator
	      lines and the like that are not really part of the content.  This option has no meaning to "alternates" sections.

       repeat output  the  following lines multiple times to fill all lines in the column.  This is useful for building column separator lines and
	      the like that are just a repeated sequence.  A multi-line sequence can be specified and only those lines necessary to fill the  col-
	      umn  will  be  output.   The  entire  sequence will be output in its entirety at least once, however.  This option has no meaning to
	      "alternates" sections.

       right  adjust the following lines so they sit at the right margin.  Note that pad spaces will still be placed on both  sides  of  a  column
	      with this type of alignment unless the minwidth option is also specified.

       top    push  the  following  lines  of text to the top of a column should it have fewer lines than the longest column.  This is the default
	      action if no vertical centering is specified.  This option has no meaning to "alternates" sections.

       vcenter
	      push the following lines of text in the vertical center of a column should it have fewer lines than the longest column.  This option
	      has no meaning to "alternates" sections.

       weight=<number>
	      change  the  likelihood  a  given alternate will be chosen.  The chance of any specific alternate being chosen is the given <number>
	      divided by the total of all weights.  If not specified, the weight defaults to 1.0.  Decimal numbers and numbers less that  1.0  are
	      allowed.	This option has no meaning to "columns" sections.

THE COST OF FREE SOFTWARE

       Let's  face  it:  Somebody  has	to pay for all software that gets written.  Whether it is the time donated by the programmer or the salary
       donated by the company, everything has its cost.  Signify has been made available to the general public in the hope that it will be  useful
       and  thus  help raise the visibility of the people that sponsored its creation.	In this way, the cost of creating Signify is offset by the
       publicity gained.  If you use this program and would like to further the development of such  software,	it  is	asked  (but  by  no  means
       required) that you put something like the following in the quotes section of your .signify file.

	   % | center, weight=0.1
	   Generated by $PROGRAM.  For this and more, visit $WEBSITE

       (for single-line quote)	or  (for multi-line in a column)

	   % | weight=0.1
	   This signature was automatically generated with
	   $PROGRAM.  For this and other cool products,
	   check out $WEBSITE

       These are weighted very low (though you are more than welcome to increase these weightings :-) and will thus show up in your signature only
       occasionally.  The variables are defined internal to Signify and provide the program name (including version number) and the web site where
       it can be found.  We thank you for your support!

BUGS

       Please report any bugs to: bcwhite@pobox.com

AUTHOR

       Signify was written and documented by Brian White <bcwhite@pobox.com> on August 24th, 1996.

COPYRIGHT

       Signify	has  been  placed  in  the public domain, the only true "free".  It would be apprecated if copies of any improvements or bug-fixes
       would be sent to the author in order to be incorporated into the main upstream code and propogated to all users of this software.

96.08.24						   Public domain by Brian White 						SIGNIFY(1)