NONSENSE(6) BSD Games Manual NONSENSE(6)NAMEnonsense — generates random text from datafiles and templates
SYNOPSISnonsense [-b bullet] [-dDeF] [-f data_file] [-n number]
[-t template_file] [-p] [tag ...]
DESCRIPTION
Nonsense generates random (and sometime humorous) text from datafiles and
templates using a very simple, recursive grammar. It's like having a
million monkeys sitting in front of a million typewriters, without having
to feed or clean up after them. From fake Slashdot headlines to absurd
college courses to buzzword bingo cards, nonsense is a good way to waste
time.
The following options are available:
-b bullet
Specify a “bullet” go in front of each item.
-d Debug mode (shows each substitution)
-D Verbose debug mode (shows each substitution and the result)
-e Disable direct eval()'s
-f data_file
Specify a data file to load in. Use multiple -f options to
include additional files. The default.data file is always
loaded.
-F Load all *.data files.
-n number
Repeat n times.
-t template_file
Use a template file. The markup in this file will be processed
and the result output to stdout.
-p Separate each item with a blank line.
The -d and -D options are mutually exclusive.
Thanks to contributions by Fred Hirsch ⟨truehand@darkhart.com⟩, nonsense
can also be executed as a CGI script. Details are in
/usr/local/share/doc/nonsense/README.
FILES
/usr/local/share/nonsense/data/* nonsense data files. Any files speci‐
fied with the -f option are found by
looking in the current directory and
then this directory. The -F option
loads all files in this directory.
/usr/local/share/nonsense/template/*
nonsense template files. Any file
specified with the -t option is found
by looking in the current directory and
then this directory.
EXAMPLES
Bellow is a list of things that nonsense can output with the data files
included.
For a realistic simulation of the Slashdot homepage:
nonsense-t slashdot.html.template
For a buzzword-enhanced mission statement that only a “Pointy Haired
Boss” could love:
nonsense-f mission.data
For a PHB-inspired business plan (in HTML):
nonsense-t bizplan.html.template -f mission.data
For a person's name:
nonsense Person
For a long list of random fake e-mail addresses suitable for sending to a
spammer's e-mail harvester:
nonsense FakeEmail -n 1000
For a buzzword bingo card (in HTML) to print out for your next meeting:
nonsense-t bingo.html.template
For a listing of absurd college classes (these might be offensive to
liberal-arts professors):
nonsense-f college.data -n 20
For a listing of political organizations (again, these might be offensive
to certain people):
nonsense OrgPolitical -n 10
For a listing of stupid laws that may or may not really exist:
nonsense-f stupidlaws.data -n 10
For a list of Open Source programs as they would appear on Freshmeat:
nonsense-f linux.data FreshmeatApp
For the resume of a random geek (in HTML):
nonsense-f resume.data -t resume.html.template
For a news headline:
nonsense-f newspaper.data Headline
For the front page of a newspaper (in HTML):
nonsense-f newspaper.data -t newspaper.html.template
For a cheap replacement for the fortune(6) program:
nonsense-F Fortune
To produce a file containing 100 items suitable for feeding to
fortune(6):
nonsense-F FortuneFile -n 100
FILE FORMATS
Nonsense reads in “template files” and “data files”.
A template file is merely a text file containing “tags” enclosed in curly
braces (‘{’ and ‘}’). Nonsense substitutes random text for these tags
using a really crude markup language.
A data file is a text file divided into sections (seperated by a blank
line), each one containing a list of text items (seperated by a newline)
that are randomly selected to fill in the template.
There are a few special cases that allow nonsense to handle more elabo‐
rate situations:
{#number1-number2}
This tag will be replaced with a random number between number1
and number2 (inclusive).
{[item1|item2|item3...}
This tag will be replaced with one item from the list. If only
one item is listed then it will be output %50 of the time (and
nothing output the other 50%).
{@strftime format}
This tag will be replaced with the current date/time using the
strftime(3) format string. So, for instance, {@A} would be
replaced with the current day of the week.
{@strftime format|number1|number2}
Same as above, but uses the date/time that occurred X seconds
ago, where X is a random number between number1 and number2. For
instance, {@%H:%M|0|86400} would be replaced by the hour:minute
anywhere from 0 to 86400 seconds (1 day) ago.
{;short perl code segment}
The perl code within the braces will be evaluated. This is use‐
ful for doing something really complicated that requires the full
power of Perl. However, this is risky since there's no error
checking and no “sandbox”. You can disable this behavior with
the -e option.
{\character}
This allows literal characters that couldn't otherwise be speci‐
fied, such as:
{\n} newline
{\0} null (i.e. nothing)
{\L} Left brace (‘{’)
{\R} Right brace (‘}’)
{\###} ascii(7) character in decimal
{variablename=literal text}
Stores the text on the right-hand side of the equals sign to the
specified state variable, without outputting anything. This is
useful for preserving context and is used, for example, in the
Slashdot simulator.
{variablename:=command}
Similar to above, but evaluates the command and stores the result
into a state variable.
{$variablename}
Returns the contents of a state variable.
{command#number1-number2}
Evaluates the command a random number of times between number1
and number2.
Case is important! {ProductName}, {productname} and {PRODUCTNAME} are
slightly different. If the name is given in lowercase, the substitution
will be converted to all lowercase (i.e. fed through the perl lc
function).
Upercase names specify the opposite; the result is uppercoased with uc.
Mixed case names tell nonsense to leave the case of the result alone
(this is usually what is used). Finally, if you prepend a name with a
caret, ‘^’ (i.e. {^ProductName}), the result is fed through the perl
ucfirst function, which will capitalize the first character only.
SEE ALSOfortune(6)
http://i-want-a-website.com/about-linux/downloads.shtml
AUTHORS
The nonsense program is written by James Baughn
⟨nonsense@i-want-a-website.com⟩.
Fred Hirsch ⟨truehand@darkhart.com⟩ and Peter Suschlik ⟨peter@zilium.de⟩
have both submitted code.
Send suggestions, comments, feedback, patches, and new datafiles/tem‐
plates to the above address. Direct your hate mail and flames to
⟨devnull@i-want-a-website.com⟩.
This manual page was written by Dave Chapeskie
⟨dchapes@ddm.crosswinds.net⟩ from the README file.
Copyright 2000-2001. This program and accompanying files are licensed
under the GNU General Public License 2.0.
BUGS
The -e option is not the default.
March 6, 2001
