NAME

    yapfaq - Post Usenet FAQs *(yet another postfaq)*

SYNOPSIS

    yapfaq [-hvpd] [-t *newsgroups* | CONSOLE] [-f *project name*]

REQUIREMENTS

    - Perl 5.8 or later

    - Net::NNTP

    - Date::Calc

    - Getopt::Std

    Furthermore you need access to a news server to actually post FAQs.

DESCRIPTION

    yapfaq posts (one or more) FAQs to Usenet with a certain posting
    frequency (every n days, weeks, months or years), adding all necessary
    headers as defined in its config file (by default yapfaq.cfg).

  Configuration

    yapfaq.cfg consists of one or more blocks, separated by "=====" on a
    single line, each containing the configuration for one FAQ as a set of
    definitions in the form of *param = value*.

    Name = *project name*
        A name referring to your FAQ, also used for generation of a
        Message-ID.

        This value must be set.

    File = *file name*
        A file containing the message body of your FAQ and all pseudo
        headers (subheaders in the news.answers style).

        This value must be set.

    Posting-frequency = *time period*
        The posting frequency defines how often your FAQ will be posted.
        yapfaq will only post your FAQ if this period of time has passed
        since the last posting.

        You can declare that time period either in *days* or *wweeks* or
        *months* or *years*.

        This value must be set.

    Expires = *time period*
        The period of time after which your message will expire. An Expires
        header will be calculated adding this time period to today's date.

        You can declare this time period either in *days* or *wweeks* or
        *months* or *years*.

        This setting is optional; the default is 3 months.

    From = *author*
        The author of your FAQ as it will appear in the From header of the
        message.

        This value must be set.

    Subject = *subject*
        The title of your FAQ as it will appear in the Subject header of the
        message.

        You may use the special string %LM which will be replaced with the
        contents of the Last-Modified subheader in your *File*.

        This value must be set.

    NGs = *newsgroups*
        A comma-separated list of newsgroup(s) to post your FAQ to as it
        will appear in the Newsgroups header of the message.

        This value must be set.

    Fup2 = *newsgroup | poster*
        A comma-separated list of newsgroup(s) or the special string
        *poster* as it will appear in the Followup-To header of the message.

        This setting is optional.

    MID-Format = *pattern*
        A pattern from which the message ID is generated as it will appear
        in the Message-ID header of the message.

        You may use the special strings %n for the *Name* of your project,
        %d for the date the message is posted, %m for the month and %y for
        the year, respectively.

        This value must be set.

    Supersede = *yes*
        Add Supersedes header to the message containing the Message-ID
        header of the last posting.

        This setting is optional; you should set it to yes or leave it out.

    ExtraHeader = *additional headers*
        The contents of *ExtraHeader* is added verbatim to the headers of
        your message so you can add custom headers like Approved.

        This setting is optional.

  Example configuration file

        # name of your project
        Name = 'testpost'
        
    # file to post (complete body and pseudo-headers)
        # ($File.cfg contains data on last posting and last MID)
        File = 'test.txt'
        
    # how often your project should be posted
        # use (d)ay OR (w)eek OR (m)onth OR (y)ear
        Posting-frequency = '1d'
        
    # time period after which the posting should expire
        # use (d)ay OR (w)eek OR (m)onth OR (y)ear
        Expires = '3m'
        
    # header "From:"
        From = 'test@domain.invalid'
        
    # header "Subject:"
        # (may contain "%LM" which will be replaced by the contents of the
        #  Last-Modified pseudo header).
        Subject = 'test noreply ignore'
        
    # comma-separated list of newsgroup(s) to post to
        # (header "Newsgroups:")
        NGs = 'de.test'
        
    # header "Followup-To:"
        Fup2 = 'poster'
        
    # Message-ID ("%n" is $Name)
        MID-Format = '<%n-%d.%m.%y@domain.invalid>'
        
    # Supersede last posting?
        Supersede = yes
        
    # extra headers (appended verbatim)
        # use this for custom headers like "Approved:"
        ExtraHeader = 'Approved: moderator@domain.invalid
        X-Header: Some text'
        
    # other projects may follow separated with "====="
        =====
        
    Name = 'othertest'
        File = 'test.txt'
        Posting-frequency = '2m'
        From = 'My Name <my.name@domain.invalid>'
        Subject = 'Test of yapfag <%LM>'
        NGs = 'de.test,de.alt.test'
        Fup2 = 'de.test'
        MID-Format = '<%n-%m.%y@domain.invalid>'
        Supersede = yes

    Information about the last post and about how to form message IDs for
    posts is stored in a file named *project name*.cfg which will be
    generated if it does not exist. Each of those status files will contain
    two lines, the first being the date of the last time the FAQ was posted
    and the second being the message ID of that incarnation.

OPTIONS

    -h (help)
       Print out version and usage information on yapfaq and exit.

    -v (verbose)
       Print out status information while running to STDOUT.

    -p (post unconditionally)
       Post (all) FAQs unconditionally ignoring the posting frequency
       setting.

       You may want to use this with the -f option (see below).

    -d (dry run)
       Start yapfaq in simulation mode, i.e. don't post anything and don't
       update any status information.

    -t *newsgroup(s) | CONSOLE* (test)
       Don't post to the newsgroups defined in yqpfaq.cfg, but to the
       newsgroups given after -t as a comma-separated list or print the FAQs
       to STDOUT separated by lines of dashes if the special string
       "CONSOLE" is given. This can be used to preview what yapfaq would do
       without embarassing yourself on Usenet. The status files are not
       updated when this option is given.

       You may want to use this with the -f option (see below).

    -f *project name*
       Just deal with one FAQ only.

       By default yapfaq will work on all FAQs that are defined in
       yapfaq.cfg, check whether they are due for posting and - if they are
       - post them. Consequently when the -p option is set all FAQs will be
       posted unconditionally. That may not be what you want to achieve, so
       you can limit the operation of yapfaq to the named FAQ only.

EXAMPLES

    Post all FAQs that are due for posting:

        yapfaq

    Do a dry run, showing which FAQs would be posted:

        yapfaq -dv

    Do a test run and print on STDOUT what the FAQ *myfaq* would look like
    when posted, regardless whether it is due for posting or not:

        yapfaq -pt CONSOLE -f myfaq

    Do a "real" test run and post the FAQ *myfaq* to *de.test*, but only if
    it is due:

        yapfaq -t de.test -f myfaq

ENVIRONMENT

    There are no special environment variables used by yapfaq.

FILES

    yapfaq.pl
        The script itself.

    yapfaq.cfg
        Configuration file for yapfaq.

    *.cfg
        Status data on FAQs.

        The status files will be created on successful posting if they don't
        already exist. The first line of the file will be the date of the
        last time the FAQ was posted and the second line will be the message
        ID of the last post of that FAQ.

BUGS

    Many, I'm sure.

SEE ALSO

    <http://th-h.de/download/scripts.php> will have the current version of
    this program.

AUTHOR

    Thomas Hochstein <thh@inter.net>

    Original author (until version 0.5b from 2003): Marc Brockschmidt
    <marc@marcbrockschmidt.de>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

    Copyright (c) 2003 Marc Brockschmidt <marc@marcbrockschmidt.de>

    Copyright (c) 2010 Thomas Hochstein <thh@inter.net>

    This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
    under the same terms as Perl itself.

