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1986-06-19
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QUOTE, copyright 1985 by Mark E. Mallett, is a program which
randomly selects a quote from a quote database and prints it. Permission
is given to distribute this program indiscriminately.
This file is an informal and brief description of the quote program.
Basic usage of this program is simply to give the command
QUOTE
and you'll get a cute message. Read on if you want to know more
than that.
Please note that specifics mentioned here (such as data widths and defaults)
apply to the CP/M implementation compiled with the Aztec C compiler from Manx.
QUOTE uses two files in looking up something to print:
- A quote index file. (this file may be constructed by the
quote program from a properly formatted quote database).
- A quote database (text file)
The quote index file is of the form:
first) A line of ASCII text, ending with newline, identifying
the name of the quote file that the index file was made
from.
second) A binary number, of size "int" to the C language (16
bits here), which is the number of quote reflected in
this index.
last) For each quote indexed, a binary number of size "long"
(32 bits here), which is the file position in the quote
file of the corresponding quote.
The quote database (text file) is of the form:
For each quote,
first) a single line of keywords indicating the class of
the quote. The class keyword is something that you
just make up, there are no built-in classes. The
keywords may be separated by any nonalphanumeric
character.
If the quote is not to be tagged with any keywords,
this line should contain some printing character
such as a colon.
second) The body of the quote, as many lines as it takes.
third) The end-of-quote signal, which is a line beginning
with a right angle bracket (">"). (Don't ask why.
Ok, it is for historical reasons.)
it might be noted that in between quotes, blank lines may appear
anywhere, as may lines beginning with an exclamation mark, which
lines are ignored.
The general command line to the quote program is:
QUOTE [options]
An option is, of course, optional, and specifies some non-default action
to take or information to use. Options are signaled by a hyphen, and
are as follows:
-c Create an index file instead of printing a quote.
-e rest-of-line The rest of the line is to be used as the next
operating system command when this program exits.
It provides a way of secure chaining for CP/M
systems (my BBS, in particular).
-i name Use this as the name of the index file, instead of
the default (which is QUOTE.INX).
-n list When creating an index, do NOT include quotes with
class keywords which are in this list. The list
may not contain spaces or tabs, but should be a
group of names separated by commas.
-o list When creating an index, include ONLY the quotes
with class keywords which are in this list.
-q name Use this as the name of the quote file, instead of
the default. The default is the name which is
contained in the index file, or if creating an
index file, the default is QUOTE.TXT.
-r nn Repeat factor (print nn quotes). Default is 1.
-s Suppress the copyright notice when the program
starts.
It should be noted that the "-o" and the "-n" may not both be used, as
they are conflicting options. If neither of these options are used, then
all quotes are included (when creating an index file).
For example, you might create an index this way:
QUOTE -c -i goodstuf.inx -n llong,dune
This says "create an index called goodstuf.inx from the file quote.txt
which does not include quotes tagged with either 'llong' or 'dune'".
You would then use this index as:
QUOTE -i goodstuf.inx
For CP/M systems, the quote program and databases (databii?) should probably
be put on user 0, and marked with the SYSTEM attribute, to allow the program to
be invoked (and work) from any user number.
Mark Mallett
20 Jeff Lane
March 29, 1985 Manchester NH 03103
Voice: 603 424 8129
BBS: 603 424 8124
(1200 baud; wait for boot).
h 29, 1985 Manchester NH 03103
Voice: 603 424 8129
BBS: 603 424 8124
(1200 baud; wa