dbformmail - write a shell script that will send e-mail to many people

NOTE: this page was directly converted from the perl FSDB manual pages from FSDB version 3.1

SYNOPSIS

dbformmail [-m MECHANISM] format_file.txt

DESCRIPTION

Read a ``form mail’’ message from the file FORMAT_FILE.TXT, filling in underscore-preceded column-names with data. Output a shell script which will send each message through some mail transport MECHANISM.

Do not use this program for evil or I will have to come over and have words with you.

Note that this program does NOT actually SEND the mail. It writes a shell script that will send the mail for you. I recommend you save it to a file, check it (one last time!), then run it with sh.

Unlike most Fsdb programs, this program does not output a FSDB file.

OPTIONS

-m MECHANISM

Select the mail-sending mechanism: Mail, sendmail, mh. Defaults to Mail. Mail uses a Berkeley-style /usr/bin/Mail. Sendmail invokes /usr/bin/sendmail. Mh writes messages into the current directory, treating it as an mh-style mailbox (one message per file, with filesnames as sequential integrates).

This module also supports the standard fsdb options:

-d

Enable debugging output.

-i or –input InputSource

Read from InputSource, typically a file name, or - for standard input, or (if in Perl) a IO::Handle, Fsdb::IO or Fsdb::BoundedQueue objects.

-o or –output OutputDestination

Write to OutputDestination, typically a file name, or - for standard output, or (if in Perl) a IO::Handle, Fsdb::IO or Fsdb::BoundedQueue objects.

–autorun or –noautorun

By default, programs process automatically, but Fsdb::Filter objects in Perl do not run until you invoke the run() method. The --(no)autorun option controls that behavior within Perl.

--help

Show help.

--man

Show full manual.

SAMPLE USAGE

Input:

#fsdb account passwd uid gid fullname homedir shell johnh * 2274 134 John_Heidemann /home/johnh /bin/bash greg * 2275 134 Greg_Johnson /home/greg /bin/bash root * 0 0 Root /root /bin/bash # this is a simple database

Sample form (in the file form.txt):

To: _account From: the sysadmin <root> Subject: time to change your password Please change your password regularly. Doesnt this message make you feel safer?

Command:

cat DATA/passwd.fsdb | dbformmail form.txt >outgoing.sh

Output (in outgoing.sh):

#!/bin/sh sendmail johnh <<END To: johnh From: the sysadmin <root> Subject: time to change your password Please change your password regularly. Doesnt this message make you feel safer? END sendmail greg <<END (etc.)

And to send the mail, run

sh outgoing.sh

SEE ALSO

Fsdb.