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From: gilbert@marin.cc.ca.us (Tim L Gilbert)
Subject: rtfm: a script for getting FAQs by email
Message-ID: <Co63Mx.28B@marin.cc.ca.us>
Summary: a short perl script to get a FAQ from rtfm.mit.edu
Keywords: perl, FAQ, mail, rtfm
Organization: College of Marin, Kentfield, CA 94904
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 22:25:45 GMT
Lines: 50

Aloha.  This is a simple script I have sitting around in my bin
directory; thought I'd share it with y'all.  Basically, this just
composes a form letter to the mail server mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu.
If you type:

$ rtfm -i comp.lang.perl

you will recieve an index file, and if you say:

$ rtfm news.answers/perl-faq/part1

you will get that file.  This is a small subset of a larger program
I am writing which is a sort of "super form letter composer", and
can talk to a variety of mail-servers, including the various ftp-
by-email ones.  I will post this as soon as I have added that one
last feature and worked out that one last bug :).  Email if you're
interested.  Well, here it is:

------------------ snip snip -------------------
#! /usr/bin/perl
# rtfm - get a file from the mail-server at mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu.
# usage: rtfm [-i] newsgroup[/file]

if ( $#ARGV < 0 || $#ARGV > 2 ) {
    die "usage:	rtfm -i newsgroup		(index of avaiable FAQs)\n".
	"   or:	rtfm newsgroup/<filename>	(get <filename>)\n";
}

$target = 'mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu';
print STDERR "Mailing to $target...\n";
open ( MAIL, "| /usr/ucb/mail -s 'rtfm' $target" ) 
	|| die "couldn't pipe to mail!";

if ( $#ARGV == 1 ) {
    shift; $filename = shift;
    print MAIL "send usenet/$filename/index\n";
}

elsif ( $#ARGV == 0 ) {
    $filename = shift;
    print MAIL "send usenet/$filename\n";
}

------------------ snip snip -------------------
P.S.:  Yes, I know it should be called rtff.  The idea of a newbie being
told to "RTFM", then going to the command line and typing it out, and
having something actually happen, was too irresistable <g>.  -- Tim
-- 
Tim Gilbert					College of Marin, Kentfield CA
gilbert@marin.cc.ca.us				All mistakes my own