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RUNSCRIPT(1)		    General Commands Manual		  RUNSCRIPT(1)

NAME
       runscript - script interpreter for minicom

SYNOPSIS
       runscript scriptname [logfile [homedir]]

DESCRIPTION
       runscript is a simple script interpreter	that can be called from	within
       the minicom communications program to automate tasks like logging in to
       a Unix system or	your favorite BBS.

INVOCATION
       The  program  expects  a	 script	name and optionally a filename and the
       user's home directory as	arguments, and it expects that it's input  and
       output are connected to the "remote end", the system you	are connecting
       to. All messages	from runscript meant for the local screen are directed
       to  the	stderr	output.	All this is automatically taken	care of	if you
       run it from minicom.  The logfile and  home  directory  parameters  are
       only  used to tell the log command the name of the logfile and where to
       write it. If the	homedir	is omitted, runscript uses the directory found
       in the $HOME environment	variable. If also the logfile name is omitted,
       the log commands	are ignored.

KEYWORDS
       Runscript recognizes the	following commands:

	    expect   send     goto     gosub	return	 !<   !
	    exit     print    set      inc	dec	 if   timeout
	    verbose  sleep    break    call	log

OVERVIEW OF KEYWORDS
       send <string>
	    <string> is	sent to	the modem. It is followed by a '\r'.  <string>
	    can	be:
	      -	regular	text, e.g. 'send hello'
	      -	text enclosed in quotes, e.g. 'send "hello world"'

	    Within <string> the	following sequences are	recognized:
		\n - newline
		\r - carriage return
		\a - bell
		\b - backspace
		\c - don't send	the default '\r'.
		\f - formfeed
		\^ - the ^ character
		\o - send character o (o is an octal number)

	    Control characters can be used in the string with the ^ prefix (^A
	    to ^Z, ^[, ^ ^], ^^	and ^_). If you	need to	send the ^  character,
	    you	must prefix it with the	\ escape character.
	    Octal characters are either	four-digit or delimited	by a non-digit
	    character,	e.g.  the  null	 character  may	be sent	with \0000 and
	    'send 1234'	is equivalent to 'send \0061234'.
	    Also $(environment_variable) can be	 used,	for  example  $(TERM).
	    Minicom  passes  three  special  environment  variables: $(LOGIN),
	    which is the username, $(PASS), which is the password, as  defined
	    in the proper entry	of the dialing directory, and $(TERMLIN) which
	    is	the  number  of	actual terminal	lines on your screen (that is,
	    the	statusline excluded).

       print <string>
	    Prints <string> to the local screen. Default followed  by  '\r\n'.
	    See	the description	of 'send' above.

       label:
	    Declares  a	 label (with the name 'label') to use with goto	or go-
	    sub.

       goto <label>
	    Jump to another place in the program.

       gosub <label>
	    Jumps to another place in the program. When	the statement 'return'
	    is encountered, control returns to the statement after the	gosub.
	    Gosub's can	be nested.

       return
	    Return from	a gosub.

       ! <command>
	    Runs  a  shell  for	you in which 'command' is executed. On return,
	    the	variable '$?' is set to	the exit status	of  this  command,  so
	    you	can subsequently test it using 'if'.

       !< <command>
	    Runs  a  shell  for	you in which 'command' is executed. The	stdout
	    output of the command execution will be sent to the	modem. On  re-
	    turn, the variable '$?' is set to the exit status of this command,
	    so you can subsequently test it using 'if'.

       exit [value]
	    Exit from "runscript" with an optional exit	status.	(default 1)

       set <variable> <value>
	    Sets the value of <variable> (which	is a single letter a-z)	to the
	    value  <value>.  If	<variable> does	not exist, it will be created.
	    <value> can	be a integer value or another variable.

       inc <variable>
	    Increments the value of <variable> by one.

       dec <variable>
	    Decrements the value of <variable> by one.

       if <value> <operator> <value> <statement>
	    Conditional	execution of <statement>. <operator> can be <,	>,  !=
	    or =.  Eg, 'if a > 3 goto exitlabel'.

       timeout <value>
	    Sets  the  global timeout. By default, 'runscript' will exit after
	    120	seconds. This can be changed with this command.	Warning:  this
	    command  acts  differently	within an 'expect' statement, but more
	    about that later.

       verbose <on|off>
	    By default,	this is	'on'. That means that anything that  is	 being
	    read  from	the  modem  by 'runscript', gets echoed	to the screen.
	    This is so that you	can see	what 'runscript' is doing.

       sleep <value>
	    Suspend execution for <value> seconds.

       expect
	      expect {
		pattern	 [statement]
		pattern	 [statement]
		[timeout <value> [statement] ]
		....
	      }
	    The	most important command of all. Expect keeps reading  from  the
	    input  until  it reads a pattern that matches one of the specified
	    ones.  If expect encounters	an optional statement after that  pat-
	    tern,  it  will execute it.	Otherwise the default is to just break
	    out	of the expect. 'pattern' is a string, just as in  'send'  (see
	    above).   Normally,	 expect	 will  timeout	in 60 seconds and just
	    exit, but this can be changed with the timeout command.

       break
	    Break out of an 'expect' statement.	This is	normally  only	useful
	    as argument	to 'timeout' within an expect, because the default ac-
	    tion of timeout is to exit immediately.

       call <scriptname>
	    Transfers  control	to  another script file. When that script file
	    finishes without errors, the original script will continue.

       log <text>
	    Write text to the logfile.

NOTES
       If you want to make your	script to exit minicom (for example  when  you
       use  minicom  to	dial up	your ISP, and then start a PPP or SLIP session
       from a script), try the command "! killall  -9  minicom"	 as  the  last
       script  command.	 The  -9 option	should prevent minicom from hanging up
       the line	and resetting the modem	before exiting.
       Well, I don't think this	is enough information to make you  an  experi-
       enced  'programmer'  in	'runscript', but together with the examples it
       shouldn't be too	hard to	write some useful script files.	Things will be
       easier if you have experience with  BASIC.   The	 minicom  source  code
       comes  together with two	example	scripts, scriptdemo and	unixlogin. Es-
       pecially	the last one is	a good base to build on	for your own scripts.

SEE ALSO
       minicom(1)

BUGS
       Runscript should	be built in to minicom.

AUTHOR
       Miquel  van  Smoorenburg,  <miquels@drinkel.ow.org>   Jukka   Lahtinen,
       <walker@netsonic.fi>

User's Manual		 $Date:	2007-10-07 18:13:51 $		  RUNSCRIPT(1)

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