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-<H2><A NAME="s6">6. Filtering (New Style v1.45 and later)</A></H2>
+<H2><A NAME="s6">6.</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6">Information, files and useful programs</A></H2>
-<H2><A NAME="ss6.1">6.1 General filter rules</A>
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.1">6.1</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.1">MOTD</A>
</H2>
-<P>Upto v1.44 it was not possible for the user to set their own filters. From
-v1.45 though that has all changed. It is now possible to set filters for just
-about anything you wish. If you have just updated from an older version of
-DXSpider you will need to update your new filters. You do not need to do
-anything with your old filters, they will be renamed as you update.
-<P>
-<P>There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating filters. These
-are <EM>accept</EM>, <EM>reject</EM> and <EM>clear</EM>. First we will look
-generally at filtering. There are a number of things you can filter in the
-DXSpider system. They all use the same general mechanism.
-<P>
-<P>In general terms you can create a 'reject' or an 'accept' filter which can have
-up to 10 lines in it. You do this using, for example ...
-<P>
-<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
-<PRE>
-
-accept/spots .....
-reject/spots .....
-</PRE>
-</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>where ..... are the specific commands for that type of filter. There are filters
-for spots, wwv, announce, wcy and (for sysops) connects. See each different
-accept or reject command reference for more details.
-<P>There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ...
+<P>One of the more important things a cluster sysop needs to do is to get
+information to his users. The simplest way to do this is to have a banner
+that is sent to the user on login. This is know as a "message of the day"
+or "motd". To set this up, simply create a file in /spider/data called motd
+and edit it to say whatever you want. It is purely a text file and will be
+sent automatically to anyone logging in to the cluster.</P>
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.2">6.2</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.2">MOTD_NOR</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>This message of the day file lives in the same directory as the standard
+motd file but is only sent to non-registered users. Once registered they
+will receive the same message as any other user.</P>
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.3">6.3</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.3">Downtime message</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>If for any reason the cluster is down, maybe for upgrade or maintenance but
+the machine is still running, a message can be sent to the user advising them
+of the fact. This message lives in the /spider/data directory and is called
+"offline". Simply create the file and edit it to say whatever you wish.
+This file will be sent to a user attempting to log into the cluster when
+DXSpider is not actually running.</P>
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.4">6.4</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.4">Other text messages</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>You can set other text messages to be read by the user if they input the file
+name. This could be for news items or maybe information for new users.
+To set this up, make a directory under /spider called <EM>packclus</EM>.
+Under this directory you can create files called <EM>news</EM> or <EM>newuser</EM>
+for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like. These can
+be listed by the user with the command ....</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-clear/spots 1
-clear/spots all
+show/files
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter.
-<P>
-<P>and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ...
+</P>
+<P>They can be read by the user by typing the command ....</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-
-show/filter
+type news
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>
-<P>For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same
-principles to all types of filter.
-<P>
-<H2><A NAME="ss6.2">6.2 Types of filter</A>
-</H2>
+</P>
+<P>If the file they want to read is called <EM>news</EM>. You could also set
+an alias for this in the Alias file to allow them just to type <EM>news</EM></P>
-<P>There are two main types of filter, <EM>accept</EM> or <EM>reject</EM>. You
-can use either to achieve the result you want dependent on your own preference
-and which is more simple to do. It is pointless writing 8 lines of reject
-filters when 1 accept filter would do the same thing! Each filter has 10
-lines (of any length) which are tried in order. If a line matches then the
-action you have specified is taken (ie reject means ignore it and accept
-means take it)
-<P>
-<P>If you specify reject filters, then any lines that arrive that match the filter
-will be dumped but all else will be accepted. If you use an accept filter,
-then ONLY the lines in the filter will be accepted and all else will be dumped.
-For example if you have a single line <EM>accept</EM> filter ...
+<P>You can also store other information in this directory, either directly or
+nested under directories. One use for this would be to store DX bulletins
+such as the OPDX bulletins. These can be listed and read by the user.
+To keep things tidy, make a directory under /spider/packclus called
+<EM>bulletin</EM>. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These
+can be listed by the user in the same way as above using the <EM>show/files</EM>
+command with an extension for the bulletin directory you have just created,
+like this ....</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+show/files bulletin
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>then you will <EM>ONLY</EM> get VHF spots <EM>from</EM> or <EM>to</EM> CQ zones
-14, 15 and 16.
-<P>
-<P>If you set a reject filter like this ...
+</P>
+
+<P>An example would look like this ....</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-reject/spots on hf/cw
+sh/files
+bulletin DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>Then you will get everything <EM>EXCEPT</EM> HF CW spots. You could make this
-single filter even more flexible. For example, if you are interested in IOTA
-and will work it even on CW even though normally you are not interested in
-CW, then you could say ...
+</P>
+<P>You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory) there is a
+file called <EM>news</EM> and a directory called <EM>bulletin</EM>. You can
+also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file <EM>news</EM>,
+you can also see the time it was last modified, a good clue as to whether the
+file has been updated since you last read it. To read the file called
+<EM>news</EM> you would simply issue the command ....</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-reject/spots on hf/cw and not info iota
+type news
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:-
+</P>
+<P>To look what is in the bulletin directory you issue the command ....</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
+show/files bulletin
+opdx390 21381 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx390.1 1670 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx390.2 2193 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx391 25045 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx392 35969 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx393 15023 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx394 33429 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx394.1 3116 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx395 24319 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396 32647 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx396.1 5537 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx396.2 6242 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx397 18433 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx398 19961 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx399 17719 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx400 19600 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx401 27738 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx402 18698 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx403 24994 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx404 15685 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx405 13984 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx405.1 4166 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx406 28934 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx407 24153 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+opdx408 15081 29-Nov-1999 1621Z opdx409 23234 29-Nov-1999 1621Z
+Press Enter to continue, A to abort (16 lines) >
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the other
-until you are comfortable with the way it works. You can mix them if you
-wish (actually you can have an accept AND a reject on the same line) but
-don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you are doing!
-<P>
-<P>You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own
-understanding or simply convenience. Here is an example ...
+</P>
+<P>You can now read any file in this directory using the type command, like this ....</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
-reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+type bulletin/opdx391
+Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
+The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
+DX Bulletin No. 391
+BID: $OPDX.391
+January 11, 1999
+Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
+Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
+Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
+Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
+Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
+& The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
+Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots on VHF
-which don't either originate or spot someone in Europe.
-<P>
-<P>This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this case), if
-you leave the digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits '0'-'9' are available.
-This make it easier to see just what filters you have set. It also makes it
-more simple to remove individual filters, during a contest for example.
-<P>
-<P>You will notice in the above example that the second line has brackets. Look
-at the line logically. You can see there are 2 separate sections to it. We
-are saying reject spots that are VHF or above <EM>APART</EM> from those in
-zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or originated there). If you did
-not have the brackets to separate the 2 sections, then Spider would read it
-logically from the front and see a different expression entirely ...
+</P>
+<P>The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to!</P>
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.5">6.5</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.5">The Aliases file</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. This is the file that
+controls what a user gets when issuing a command. It is also possible to
+create your own aliases for databases and files you create locally.</P>
+
+<P>You should not alter the original file in /spider/cmd/ but create a new file
+with the same name in /spider/local_cmd. This means that any new Aliases files
+that is downloaded will not overwrite your self created Aliases and also that
+you do not override any new Aliases with your copy in /spider/local_cmd/. You
+must remember that any files you store in /spider/local/ or /spider/local_cmd
+override the originals if the same lines are used in both files.</P>
+
+<P>The best way of dealing with all this then is to only put your own locally
+created Aliases in the copy in /spider/local_cmd. The example below is
+currently in use at GB7MBC.</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-(on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
+
+#
+# Local Aliases File
+#
+
+package CmdAlias;
+
+%alias = (
+ 'n' => [
+ '^news$', 'type news', 'type',
+ ],
+ 's' => [
+ '^sh\w*/buck$', 'show/qrz', 'show',
+ '^sh\w*/hftest$', 'dbshow hftest', 'dbshow',
+ '^sh\w*/qsl$', 'dbshow qsl', 'dbshow',
+ '^sh\w*/vhf$', 'dbshow vhf', 'dbshow',
+ '^sh\w*/vhftest$', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
+ ],
+)
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>The simple way to remember this is, if you use OR - use brackets. Whilst we are
-here CASE is not important. 'And BY_Zone' is just the same as 'and by_zone'.
-<P>As mentioned earlier, setting several filters can be more flexible than
-simply setting one complex one. Doing it in this way means that if you want
-to alter your filter you can just redefine or remove one or more lines of it or
-one line. For example ...
+</P>
+
+<P>Each alphabetical section should be preceded by the initial letter and the section
+should be wrapped in square brackets as you can see. The syntax is straightforward.
+The first section on each line is the new command that will be allowed once the
+alias is included. The second section is the command it is replacing and the last
+section is the actual command that is being used.</P>
+
+<P>The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that in the first section, the new
+alias command has a '^' at the start and a '$' at the end. Basically these force
+a perfect match on the alias. The '^' says match the beginning exactly and the
+'$' says match the end exactly. This prevents unwanted and unintentional matches
+with similar commands.</P>
+
+<P>I have 3 different types of alias in this file. At the top is an alias for 'news'.
+This is a file I have created in the /spider/packclus/ directory where I can inform
+users of new developments or points of interest. In it's initial form a user would
+have to use the command <EM>type news</EM>. The alias allows them to simply type
+<EM>news</EM> to get the info. Second is an alias for the <EM>show/qrz</EM>
+command so that those users used to the original <EM>show/buck</EM> command in
+AK1A will not get an error, and the rest of the lines are for locally created
+databases so that a user can type <EM>show/hftest</EM> instead of having to use
+the command <EM>dbshow hftest</EM> which is not as intuitive.</P>
+
+<P>This file is just an example and you should edit it to your own requirements.
+Once created, simply issue the command <EM>load/alias</EM> at the cluster
+prompt as the sysop user and the aliases should be available.</P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.6">6.6</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.6">Console.pl</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>In later versions of Spider a simple console program is provided for the sysop.
+This has a type ahead buffer with line editing facilities and colour for spots,
+announces etc. To use this program, simply use console.pl instead of client.</P>
+
+<P>To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the
+file with your favourite editor.</P>
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.7">6.7</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.7">Updating kepler data</A>
+</H2>
+
+<P>Spider has a powerful and flexible show/satellite command. In order for
+this to be accurate, the kepler data has to be updated regularly. In
+general, this data is available as an email or via cluster mail.
+Updating it is simple. First you need to export the mail message as a
+file. You do this with the <EM>export</EM> command from the cluster prompt
+as the sysop. For example ...</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
+export 5467 /spider/perl/keps.in
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>would redefine our earlier example, or
+</P>
+
+<P>would export message number 5467 as a file called keps.in in the
+/spider/perl directory.</P>
+
+<P>Now login to a VT as sysop and cd /spider/perl. There is a command in
+the perl directory called <EM>convkeps.pl</EM>. All we need to do now is
+convert the file like so ...</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-clear/spots 1
+./convkeps.pl keps.in
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ...
+</P>
+
+<P>Now go back to the cluster and issue the command ...</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-clear/spots all
+load/keps
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>
-<H2><A NAME="ss6.3">6.3 Filter options</A>
-</H2>
+</P>
-<P>You can filter in several different ways. The options are listed in the
-various helpfiles for accept, reject and filter.
-<P>
-<H2><A NAME="ss6.4">6.4 Default filters</A>
+<P>That is it! the kepler data has been updated.</P>
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.8">6.8</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.8">The QRZ callbook</A>
</H2>
-<P>Sometimes all that is needed is a general rule for node connects. This can
-be done with a node_default filter. This rule will always be followed, even
-if the link is isolated, unless another filter is set specifically. Default
-rules can be set for nodes and users. They can be set for spots, announces,
-WWV and WCY. They can also be used for hops. An example might look like
-this ...
-<P>
-<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
-<PRE>
-accept/spot node_default by_zone 14,15,16,20,33
-set/hops node_default spot 50
-</PRE>
-</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>This filter is for spots only, you could set others for announce, WWV and WCY.
-This filter would work for ALL nodes unless a specific filter is written to
-override it for a particular node. You can also set a user_default should
-you require. It is important to note that default filters should be
-considered to be "connected". By this I mean that should you override the
-default filter for spots, you need to add a rule for the hops for spots also.
-<P>
-<H2><A NAME="ss6.5">6.5 Advanced filtering</A>
+<P>The command <EM>sh/qrz</EM> will only work once you have followed a few
+simple steps. First you need to get a user ID and password from qrz.com.
+Simply go to the site and create one. Secondly you need to copy the file
+/spider/perl/Internet.pm to /spider/local and alter it to match your user
+ID and password. You also at this point need to set $allow=1 to complete
+the setup. Many thanks to Fred Lloyd, the proprieter of
+<A HREF="http://www.qrz.com">qrz.com</A> for allowing this access.</P>
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss6.9">6.9</A> <A HREF="adminmanual.html#toc6.9">Connecting logging programs</A>
</H2>
-<P>Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to experiment.
-<P>
-<P>The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU
-can be written with a mixed filter, for example ...
+<P>There appear to be very few logging programs out there that support telnet
+especially the popular ones like LogEQF, Turbolog etc. This can make it
+difficult to connect to your own cluster!
+The way to do it is to make the logging program think it has a TNC attached
+to a com port on the logging PC and 'push' a linux login out to it.
+This is achieved very simply by the use of <EM>agetty</EM>.</P>
+
+<P>All that is required is to add a line in /etc/inittab to have the client
+ready for a connection on the com port of your choice. Remember that in
+Linux, the com ports start at ttyS0 for com1, ttyS1 for com2 etc.</P>
<P>
<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
<PRE>
-rej/spot on hf/cw
-acc/spot on 0/30000
-acc/spot 2 on 50000/1400000 and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -L 9600 ttyS1
</PRE>
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
-<P>Note that the first filter has not been specified with a number. This will
-automatically be assumed to be number 1. In this case, we have said <EM>reject all
-HF spots in the CW section of the bands but accept all others at HF. Also
-accept anything in VHF and above spotted in or by operators in the zones
-14, 15 and 16</EM>. Each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and
-an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot.
-<P>
-<P>It was mentioned earlier that after a reject test that doesn't match, the default
-for following tests is 'accept', the reverse is true for 'accept'. In the example
-what happens is that the reject is executed first, any non hf/cw spot is passed
-to the accept line, which lets through everything else on HF. The next filter line
-lets through just VHF/UHF spots from EU.
-<P>
-<P>
+</P>
+
+<P>Add this after the standard runlevel lines in /etc/inittab. The above
+line works on ttyS1 (com2). Now as root, issue the command <EM>telinit q</EM>
+and it should be ready for connection. All that is required is a 3 wire
+serial lead (tx, rx and signal ground). Tell you logging program to use
+8n1 at 9600 baud and you should see a Linux login prompt. Login as normal
+and then telnet from there to the cluster.</P>
+
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