NAME

       manderlbot.conf - Configuring the manderlbot IRC robot.

DESCRIPTION

       manderlbot  is  an  irc bot aimed at saying idioties or doing some little searches on the internet. It is
       not an eggdrop bot.

CONFIGURATION

       The configuration file is an XML file containing the following elements:

       manderlbot
              the opening XML element of the configuration, it contains the properties name and  controler.  The
              name  will be shown as the bot fullname, the controller property may contain one or more nicknames
              separated by spaces, only those people will then be allowed to operate on the running bot from irc
              channel.

              All the following sections, otherwise stated, are to be found under this one.

       dict   is the section where to define the dictionnary server you  may  want  to  use.  See  dict.org  for
              details  about  the  protocol  and  servers.  Be aware that you can run a dict server locally, and
              download some useful dictionnaries.

              The properties to define here are the dict server host, the port, and the default  dictionnary  to
              use.

       server allows you to define which servers manderlbot should connect to. The properties are host and port.
              You  have  to define a server section for each and every irc server you want manderlbot to connect
              to.

       channel
              section is where to configure the manderlbot behaviour and name. This section has to  be  embedded
              in the server one. You have to define a channel section per channel you want manderlbot to join on
              a server.

              The  properties of channel section are name, the channel name, botname, the manderlbot nickname on
              that channel, and behaviours, a list of behaviours name you want to activate for that channel.

       behaviours
              will just contain your behaviour list

       behaviour
              have to be found under the behaviours section. You define here your  behaviour,  which  properties
              are  name,  the name to use in the channel definition, the action, defining what will be done, and
              one or more of the followings pattern elements: pattern, op, to, option and  from.  You  can  even
              prefix those properties with exl_ to get an exclude pattern match (see [XRef to MATCH]>).

              This  element  contains  data  wich  will  be  used as the action parameter, as explain in section
              [sub:Implemented-actions].

BEHAVIOUR MATCHING

       So when you define a behaviour, you want manderlbot to react on some event on irc channel it is connected
       to, and take some action. Here we see how to define the event you want it to react to. As on irc all  you
       do is sending lines of text, an event as to be text line oriented.

       So  manderlbot  configuration  allows  you  to  define  some Regular Expressions <URL:http://www.regular-
       expressions.info> to match the lines received. If the line is matched, the  associated  action  is  done.
       Please note the regexp are all considered case insensitive ones.

       You  can  define  some  regexp  on  the  following  parts  of  the  received line (containing some server
       informations relative to IRC protocol <URL:http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1459.html>):

       pattern
              will try to match the user input, that is what your ordinary irc client will show you

       op     will try to match the irc operation, see the RFC for complete list (op can be  kick  or  join  for
              example)

       to     irc protocol field, will probably contain the channel name, so you won't need that...

       option irc protocol option field

       from   the nickname of the one who typed the current line, on the form nick!~user@host.domain.tld

       And  in order to make it even more powerful and readable, you can define the same patterns with an 'exl_'
       prefix, this will prevent the action to being taken if it matches.  So  you  can  define  the  parameters
       exl_pattern, exl_op, exl_to, exl_option and exl_from.

       Of  course,  you  can  use any combination of the listed parameters, thus being quite precise on what you
       want to react to.

IMPLEMENTED ACTIONS

       The action parameter of the behaviour configuration element defines the manderlbot behaviour on  matching
       a  line.  Here  is  a list of provided actions you can use.  If you want manderlbot to take an action not
       described here, you will have to write some erlang code to teach him what you want!

       The argument of the action is the xml data given enclosed in the behaviour element.

       action send the given argument as if manderlbot had typed it after the /me irc command.

       answer send the line prefixed with the sender name and a colon.

       bloto  this will count the matched lines per user, and first obtaining 5 points has won the business loto
              game. Just define your buzzwords set and make it a regexp!

       debian_file
              will search the irc given file using the debian web site cgi. The argument is not used.

       debian_pkg
              will search the irc given package using the debian web site cgi. The argument is not used.

       dict   will ask your defined dict server for the given word. The argument may be the dictionnary name  to
              use in the query, but defaults to the 'default' entry of the dict config element.

       google will ask google for the rest of the irc line. The argument is not used.

       mute   mute will mute the bot, you have to be a controler to use that. The argument is not used.

       pyramid
              pyramid is a game named after a french TV game. You have to make guess a world to an irc fellow on
              that channel, in a given number or tries. The argument is not used.

       random will say one of the sentences listed in the arguments randomly. The sentences have to be separated
              by '%' signs.

       fortune
              same  behaviour  as  random,  but  this  time  the argument is the name of a traditionnal separate
              fortune file.

       reconf will ask the bot  to  re-read  its  configuration.  It  allows  you  to  handle  dynamically  your
              configuration,  no  need to restart the bot, and irc control! You have to be in the controler list
              to use this action.

       rejoin allows you te rejoin a channel (useful on kick, just add a op="kick" parameter  to  the  behaviour
              element definition).

       say    say will say the arguments.

       timer  will  say  the  first argument, then wait for a random time, and say the other arguments. The args
              have to be separated bu a '%' char.

INTERACTING WITH THE RUNNING BOT, FROM IRC

       You can use the reconf and mute actions to control the bot from irc, and you define who can  do  that  in
       the first configuration element, with the controler property.

EXAMPLE

       Please see the given configuration file, in /etc/manderlbot/config.xml.

HISTORY

       But why did we wrote this software ?

       Well, I wanted an irc bot to play with, in order to have it say some silly things automatically on answer
       to our own idioties. I did not want an eggdrop or whatever controlling channel bot. I saw that manderlbot
       project existing, was already familiar with erlang developpment, so I began using it.

       The  existing project was on early stage of development, and I wanted the bot to do more and more things.
       So I wrote some code to make it fit my needs. As the original authors would not consider  my  patches,  I
       forked the project, keeping the name (they seemed not to work on their version at all), and hosting it on
       the TuxFamily services.

AUTHORS

       manderlbot was written by Dimitri Fontaine <dim@tuxfamily.org> and Nicolas Niclausse <nico@niclux.org>.

                                                   Avril 2004                                 MANDERLBOT.CONF(5)