mailgo - shell script for using mgt to automate email go games
SYNOPSIS
mailgo [-r] [-n] [-c] [-e] [filename]
DESCRIPTION
mailgo helps manage email games by processing Smart-Go game records received by
mail, invoking mgt, and automatically sending your next move back.
Invoking
mailgo with no flags instructs the program to search the specified file for a
go game, ignoring mail headers or other such garbage.
mailgo will invoke the game processor specified in the environment variable
MAILGO or of this variable is undefined, will attempt to run
mgt from the inherited path. If you give the filename -- then
mailgo will read its input from stdin, allowing you to redirect messages
into
mailgo directly from your mailer. Your mail program may not support
redirecting messages into external programs. Check it's man
page to find out.
This option to use stdin as the input is only valid if you give
mailgo no other arguments. (Technical note: mgt is instructed to read its
input from /dev/tty if you use this feature.)
If your opponent loses your move, you can resend the game with the -r
switch.
To start a new game, use the -n switch. Without a file, you will be
prompted for your address, your opponent's address, and the filename for
both your and your opponent's local game record. The game processor will
then be invoked for you to make the first move. If a filename is specified,
the address and filename data is taken from that file.
The -c switch causes the program to delete any extraneous files it
might have created during a previous run which was abnormally
terminated. These files have the form: MailGo*
To edit the mailgo headers (including mail addresses, file names and game
record format) or the game record, use the -e switch with the file name
of the mailgo file you wish to edit. The file may be a saved mailgo
mail message or a processed mailgo game file. The -e option will not
mail changes because of the possibility of confusing addresses. To mail
edited files, use 'mailgo <file>' for edited mail messages and 'mailgo -r
<file>' for edited files which have been previously processed by
mailgo. mailgo also supports go board sizes of 9x9, 13x13 and 19x19. Handicaps
maybe set to values of 2-4 for 9x9 games, 2-5 for 13x13 games and 2-9
for 19x19 games. Any other board size or handicap must be set behind
mailgo 's back.
FILE FORMAT
Leading garbage ignored
---GoGaMeStArT---
TO: opponent@hissite
TOFILE: his_game_record
FROM: me@mysite
FROMFILE: my_game_record
FORMAT: format_code
(
Smart-Go game data
)
---GoGaMeEnD---
Trailing garbage ignored
The game data file contains a leading tag to indicate the start of
the data. It contains both addresses, as should be used to mail the
game files, and it contains the files to store the games in. In the
example above, you are playing opponent@hissite, and the game is being
stored in my_game_record.
The file format used can be either long, short, or extrashort indicated by L,
S, and E respectively. The long format uses the full size Smart-Go file
saved with no options from mgt. The extrashort format uses mgt with the -s
option to save short format files. This format may cause problems for some
mailers, however, because the lines will grow longer than 512 bytes.
In any game record format, if very long comments are created, there is a
danger of causing mailer problems.
The short format is similar to the extrashort format but has extra newlines
inserted. The short format is the default when selecting format from
the prompt, but the long format is the default if a file contains no FORMAT
line.
When
mailgo is used normally, the file specified on the command line is removed at
successful completion, and the new game is saved to the file specified in
the received game record. If the destination file does not look like
a mailgo file,
mailgo will query for confirmation.
When a new game is started, the first mailgo message contains the line
NEWGAME inserted before the FORMAT line. This is used to check for
the overwriting of old game records.
FILES
mgt
Smart-Go.def, the Smart-Go format definition.
BUGS
mailgo tries to handle the case where you start a new game but
do not make the first move.
If after the first move you have a reason to convince mgt that you have
changed the game record without really changing anything, you should
enter and exit the comment editor.
