README FILE FOR LIMPET

The C program LIMPET is something I wrote after being frustrated
when I was on the road unable to keep my various RSS apps in sync.
Whether I'm on a PC running NewsGator or my TiBook running another
copy of NetNewsWire, or even just wanting to share my current
subscription list with friends and colleagues, I needed a tool that
would automate the creation of an OPML file based on the data within
NetNewsWire. So that's what this is.

The program should be remarkably easy to use, but since it's a
source program, you'll need to compile it on your OSX box (which
might mean that you need to install the developer tools included
with your OSX distribution. I'm not sure, since I always install
them anyway).  There's a binary version available from my Web site
if you want, but it's sure more fun to learn something new, isn't
it?

Thanks to NetNewsWire author Brent Simmons for his help on this, 
and for writing the darn useful NetNewsWire program in the first
place. Get it. Download it. Register it. :-)

LIMPET HOME

Want to ensure you have the latest version of this C program?
Just go to:

	http://www.intuitive.com/limpet/

and you'll be golden.

COMPILING THE PROGRAM

Your first step is to decide where you want the program to live. I 
suggest that you create a new subdirectory in your HOME called,
logically enough, limpet:

	cd
	mkdir limpet

then make sure that the C source file "limpet.c" is located therein.

	mv limpet.c ~/limpet

So far, so good. Now move into that directory and build the app:

	cd ~/limpet
	cc -O limpet.c -o limpet

If all is well, you'll have no output (ain't Unix grand?) but you'll
have a new program you can run. Since this directory isn't in your
PATH and you certainly don't have '.' in your PATH either, right?
You'll want to use the './' notation to test it:

	./limpet | head -2

The output should be:

	<?xml version="1.0"?>
	<!-- OPML generated by LIMPET: http://www.intuitive.com/limpet/ -->

If you get an error message, then you either aren't running
NetNewsWire (which makes this program pretty much useless!) or the
.plist file for the program is installed under a different user id.

RUNNING LIMPET

LIMPET is really designed to be run via a cron job, more than
anything, and a typical entry for having a master .opml file
extracted and kept up-to-date would look like:

0 1 * * *	~/limpet/limpet > ~/MySubscriptions.opml

This would mean that at precisely 1am every morning the file
"MySubscriptions.opml" would be updated to the very latest version
of your subsciption list.

To add this to your crontab, type

	crontab -e

then append the above line to the file. Close the file (you're in
'vi' so use ":wq") and it's ready to go!

ADVANCED USE

My setup is a bit more complex because I actually upload my OPML
file onto my remote Unix server at a colocation facility out of
state. To do this, I actually kick off a script that invokes LIMPET,
then uses a scripted front-end to sftp to securely transfer the
file up the Internet wire. I'll be happy to share if you'd like -
email me - or just wait for my upcoming book Wicked Cool Shell
Scripts (late 2003, from NoStarch Press) and it'll be therein.

Finally, if this command line stuff seems cool but a bit daunting,
may I suggest my book "Learning Unix for Mac OS X" (O'Reilly) as
a good start, or my more in-depth book "Teach Yourself Unix in 24
Hours" (Macmillan) as an advanced title on the subject?

Dave Taylor
taylor@intuitive.com
author:  http://books.intuitive.com/