icb — Internet Citizen's Band client
icb [-eV] [-c status] [-d dir] [-i type] [-k env] [-l login] [-n nick] group
icb is a minimalistic FIFO- and filesystem-based Internet Citizen's Band (ICB)
client. It creates an icb directory with subdirectory for ICB server, where
subdirectries for group and nick name directories. In the leaf directories a
FIFO file in and and normal file out are placed. The in file is used to
communicate with the server and the out file contains the chat log. For every
nick name there will be new in and out files. The basic idea of this is to
be able to communicate with an ICB server with basic command line tools.
icb lacks its own networking support. It relies on UCSPI-compliant network
client instead.
The following flags are available:
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-c status |
If login will result in creation of a group, set its status to status. |
-d dir |
Use dir instead of default ~/icb for program's directory tree. |
-e |
Use “exteded packets” extension to ICB protocol. In this mode icb will not split message into smaller messages, but will send it in multiple packets with length 0. |
-i types |
Ignore ICB packets of specified types. |
-k env |
Get ICB account's password from env environment variable. |
-l login |
Use login for login name when connecting. Defaults to system user name. |
-n nick |
Set nick name to nick. Defaults to login name. |
-s server |
Set server component of direcotry tree to server. As icb does no networking on its own, this parameter does not influence the network connection. Default value is read from REMOTEHOST environment variable, which should be set by UCSPI-complient tool. |
-V |
Show version information and exit. |
Following commands are interpreted specially when recieved from group FIFO:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| :m user | Send personal message to user. |
| :c command | Send command to server. |
| :p | Ping server. |
| :q | Quit chat. |
Connect to local ICB server and enter group ‘users’, send public message followed by a private message to ‘root’:
$ tcpopen localhost icb icb users
$ echo hello, world! > ~/icb/localhost/
$ echo :m root hi > ~/icb/localhost/- ICB is not a well-defined protocol. Things may not work properly in all cases. Use with care.
- Due to program design and limitations of ICB protocol one
icbinstance can only deal with one group.