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. +
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. +
+
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.
-
There are 3 basic commands involved in setting and manipulating filters. These are accept, -reject and clear. 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. +
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.
-
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 ... +
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 packclus. +Under this directory you can create files called news or newuser +for example. In fact you can create files with any names you like. These can +be listed by the user with the command ....
-
-accept/spots .....
-reject/spots .....
+show/files
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. -
There is also a command to clear out one or more lines in a filter. They are ... +
They can be read by the user by typing the command ....
-clear/spots 1
-clear/spots all
+type news
There is clear/xxxx command for each type of filter. +
If the file they want to read is called news. You could also set +an alias for this in the Alias file to allow them just to type news
-
and you can check that your filters have worked by the command ... +
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 +bulletin. Now copy any OPDX or similar bulletins into it. These +can be listed by the user in the same way as above using the show/files +command with an extension for the bulletin directory you have just created, +like this ....
-
-show/filter
+show/files bulletin
-
For now we are going to use spots for the examples, but you can apply the same principles -to all types of filter. -
-
There are two main types of filter, accept or reject. 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) -
-
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 accept filter ... +
An example would look like this ....
-accept/spots on vhf and (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+sh/files
+bulletin DIR 20-Dec-1999 1715Z news 1602 14-Dec-1999 1330Z
then you will ONLY get VHF spots from or to CQ zones 14, 15 and 16. -
-
If you set a reject filter like this ... +
You can see that in the files area (basically the packclus directory) there is a +file called news and a directory called bulletin. You can +also see that dates they were created. In the case of the file news, +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 +news you would simply issue the command ....
-reject/spots on hf/cw
+type news
Then you will get everything EXCEPT 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 ... +
To look what is in the bulletin directory you issue the command ....
-reject/spots on hf/cw and not 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) >
But in that case you might only be interested in iota and say:- +
You can now read any file in this directory using the type command, like this ....
-accept/spots not on hf/cw or info iota
+type bulletin/opdx391
+Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 391
+The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
+DX Bulletin No. 391
+BID: $OPDX.391
+January 11, 1999
+Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
+Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
+Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1 (New Area Code!)
+Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
+Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K1XN & Golist, WB2RAJ/WB2YQH
+& The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, K3TEJ, KN4UG, W4DC, NC6J, N6HR,
+Press Enter to continue, A to abort (508 lines) >
which achieves exactly the same thing. You should choose one or the other until you are -comfortable with the way it works. You can mix them if you wish (actually you can have an accept -AND a reject on the same line) but don't attempt this until you are sure you know what you -are doing! +
The page length will of course depend on what you have it set to! +
+
You will find a file in /spider/cmd/ called Aliases. This is the file that +controls what a user gets when issuing a command. It is also possible to +create your own aliases for databases and files you create locally.
-
You can arrange your filter lines into logical units, either for your own understanding or simply -convenience. Here is an example ... +
You should not alter the original file in /spider/cmd/ but create a new file +with the same name in /spider/local_cmd. This means that any new Aliases files +that is downloaded will not overwrite your self created Aliases and also that +you do not override any new Aliases with your copy in /spider/local_cmd/. You +must remember that any files you store in /spider/local/ or /spider/local_cmd +override the originals if the same lines are used in both files. +
+
The best way of dealing with all this then is to only put your own locally +created Aliases in the copy in /spider/local_cmd. The example below is +currently in use at GB7MBC.
-reject/spots 1 on hf/cw
-reject/spots 2 on 50000/1400000 not (by_zone 14,15,16 or call_zone 14,15,16)
+
+#
+# Local Aliases File
+#
+
+package CmdAlias;
+
+%alias = (
+ 'n' => [
+ '^news$', '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$', 'dbshow vhftest', 'dbshow',
+ ],
+)
What this does is to ignore all HF CW spots and also rejects any spots on VHF which don't -either originate or spot someone in Europe.
-
This is an example where you would use a line number (1 and 2 in this case), if you leave the -digit out, the system assumes '1'. Digits '0'-'9' are available. This make it easier to see -just what filters you have set. It also makes it more simple to remove individual filters, -during a contest for example. +
Each alphabetical section should be preceded by the initial letter and the section +should be wrapped in square brackets as you can see. The syntax is straightforward. +The first section on each line is the new command that will be allowed once the +alias is included. The second section is the command it is replacing and the last +section is the actual command that is being used.
-
You will notice in the above example that the second line has brackets. Look at the line -logically. You can see there are 2 separate sections to it. We are saying reject spots that -are VHF or above APART from those in zones 14, 15 and 16 (either spotted there or -originated there). If you did not have the brackets to separate the 2 sections, then Spider -would read it logically from the front and see a different expression entirely ... +
The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that in the first section, the new +alias command has a '^' at the start and a '$' 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. +
+
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 type news. The alias allows them to simply type +news to get the info. Second is an alias for the show/qrz +command so that those users used to the original show/buck 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 show/hftest instead of having to use +the command dbshow hftest which is not as intuitive. +
+
This file is just an example and you should edit it to your own requirements. +Once created, simply issue the command load/alias at the cluster +prompt as the sysop user and the aliases should be available.
-
-
-(on 50000/1400000 and by_zone 14,15,16) or call_zone 14,15,16
-
-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'. -
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 ... +
+
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. +
+
To edit the colours, copy /spider/perl/Console.pl to /spider/local and edit the +file with your favourite editor. +
+
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 export command from the cluster prompt +as the sysop. For example ...
-reject/spots 1 on hf/ssb
+export 5467 /spider/perl/keps.in
would redefine our earlier example, or +
+
would export message number 5467 as a file called keps.in in the +/spider/perl directory. +
+
Now login to a VT as sysop and cd /spider/perl. There is a command in +the perl directory called convkeps.pl. All we need to do now is +convert the file like so ...
-clear/spots 1
+./convkeps.pl keps.in
To remove all the filter lines in the spot filter ... +
+
Now go back to the cluster and issue the command ...
-clear/spots all
+load/keps
-
That is it! the kepler data has been updated. +
+
The command sh/qrz 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 +qrz.com for allowing this access. +
+
Once you are happy with the results you get, you may like to experiment. +
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 agetty.
-
The previous example that filters hf/cw spots and accepts vhf/uhf spots from EU -can be written with a mixed filter, for example ... +
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.
-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
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 "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". Each filter slot actually has a 'reject' slot and -an 'accept' slot. The reject slot is executed BEFORE the accept slot. -
-
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.
+
Add this after the standard runlevel lines in /etc/inittab. The above +line works on ttyS1 (com2). Now as root, issue the command telinit q +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.