'rtfm' script

[Chris Costello]

   I've been encountering people recently who, for one reason or
another, are unable to find information for themselves when they
have a question on FreeBSD.

   I propose an rtfm(1) command, and I've got some Perl code that
works.  If people are interested, I will continue with it, and
write a man page.

   The source is attached.

   Sample output:


(-s = simple, don't search sections 3, 4, or 9, and 'e' means
'exact', or 'use whatis instead of apropos')
---------

$ rtfm -s -e ASCII 
Manual pages found:
   ascii(7)
   hexdump(1)
   map3270(5)
   mset(1)
   neqn(1)
   od(1)
   pfbtops(1)

Found FAQ entries:
   1.18.   Where can I get ASCII/PostScript versions of the FAQ?
      http://www.freebsd.org/FAQ/FAQ19.html#19
   1.19.   Where can I get ASCII/PostScript versions of the Handbook?
      http://www.freebsd.org/FAQ/FAQ20.html#20
   1.20.   The ASCII handbook isn't plain text!
      http://www.freebsd.org/FAQ/FAQ21.html#21


-- 
Chris Costello                                <ch...@calldei.com>
"I'll rob that rich person and give it to some poor deserving slob.
That will *prove* I'm Robin Hood."
                -- Daffy Duck, "Robin Hood Daffy", [1958, Chuck Jones]

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
# Copyright (c) 1999 Chris Costello
# All rights reserved.
# 
# Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
# modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
# are met:
# 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
#    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
# 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
#    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
#    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
# 
# THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
# ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
# IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
# ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
# FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
# DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
# OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
# HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
# LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
# OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
# SUCH DAMAGE.

use IO::Socket;

my ($mancnt, $line, @manuals, $manual, $simple, $exactword, @faqs);
my ($http_socket);

$mancnt = 0;
$simple = 0;
$exactword = 0;

# Somehow I need to be able to try and find a 'closest mirror'.

$http_server = 'www.freebsd.org';
$faq_path = '/FAQ';

&usage if $#ARGV < 0;

while ($_ = $ARGV[0], /^-/) {
        shift(@ARGV);

        if (/^-s/) { $simple++; }       # see simple description in man page
        elsif (/^-e/) { $exactword++; }
        elsif (/^-h/) { &usage }
}

$ent = $ARGV[0];

$prog = "whatis" if $exactword;
$prog = "apropos" unless defined($prog);

# First check to see if we have a man page.
open(APROPOS, "$prog $ent|") || die "error encountered running $prog: $!";

while (defined($line = <APROPOS>)) {
        chomp($line);
        $mancnt++;

        if ($line =~ /$ent: nothing appropriate/) { last; }

        # innovation.
        $line =~ s/^(.+?)\(([0-9nqt]+?)\).*/$2 $1/g;

        push(@manuals, $line);
}

close(APROPOS);

if ($mancnt > 0) {
        print "Manual pages found:\n";
        foreach $manual (@manuals) {
                my ($sect, $mman) = split(/ /, $manual);
                if ($simple > 0 && ($sect =~ /[349qt]+/)) { 
                        next; 
                }
                print "   $mman($sect)\n";
        }
}

$http_socket = IO::Socket::INET->new($http_server . ':80');

print $http_socket "GET $faq_path/ HTTP/1.0\r\n\r\n";

while (defined($line = <$http_socket>)) {
        chomp($line);
        # superiority.
        if ($line =~ /^<DD>(.+?)<A HREF=\"(.+?)\">(.+?)<.*$/) {
                my ($faq_ent, $faq_page, $faq_question);

                $faq_ent = $1;
                $faq_page = $2;
                $faq_question = $3;

                if ($faq_question =~ /$ent/) {
                        push(@faqs, sprintf("%s|%s|%s", $faq_ent, $faq_page, 
$faq_question));
                }
        }
}

close($http_socket);

print "\nFound FAQ entries:\n";

foreach (@faqs) {
        my ($faq_ent, $faq_page, $faq_question) = split(/\|/);

        print "   $faq_ent  $faq_question\n      
http://$http_server/FAQ/$faq_page\n";;
}

# usage:
#   prints usage info and exits.

sub usage {
        print STDERR "usage: rtfm command\n";
        exit 1;
}