local.examp

Purpose

local.examp is a sample script for installation-specific or personal customization. Copy it to a file named local and adapt its contents, or write a fresh local using it as a guide. The example filename is not automatically loaded as local configuration.

The global startup script finishes by checking which(local) and running load local if found. Put the file in a directory on load_path; discovery uses that script search path, not the shell's executable PATH. If no file is found, the step is silently skipped.

Startup order

EPIC loads the selected readable personal startup file instead of global. When no such file is readable, it falls back to global, which loads the standard support scripts and then local. Quick startup with -q skips this automatic startup load.

Thus local does not unconditionally run before every user's startup file. Users with personal configurations opt into that load sequence by explicitly loading global, or can load local directly. Loading global within a personal startup file applies local at that point; commands following it can override the local configuration.

For example, a personal startup file can contain:

load global
set beep off

The final setting runs after any discovered local. To load only a local configuration interactively, use /load local, ensuring its own dependencies are available.

What the supplied example does

Loading the unmodified example:

• Prints a version announcement, blank lines, and sample bug-report text.
• Loads guh, defining user-information query helpers.
• Changes client_information to sample text used by the supplied CTCP responder.
• Changes status_user to an ircII help reminder.
• Defines wasteland to invoke server with the stored sample network hostname and port 6667, and undernet as an alias for wasteland.

Those server aliases do not connect merely because the example is loaded; invoking one requests a connection under ordinary server-command rules. The sample is configuration code, not a template whose commands are inert. Replace its messages, settings, and aliases with the behavior wanted for your installation. Its /help reminder does not repair the retained help script's unavailable EPIC6 transport.

There are no script arguments, settings defined by the example itself, or function return values. Repeated loads repeat its output and setting assignments and redefine its aliases.

Installation notes

The example comments intend local to hold custom changes separately from distributed files. The current installscript rule copies each file actually present in the source script directory by basename. The repository ships local.examp, not a standard local, so installing the normal distributed set does not create local from the example automatically. Do not interpret the comment as unconditional overwrite protection: a source file named local would also be copied by that rule.

Source references

• script/local.examp: sample output, support load, settings, and server aliases.
• script/global: conditional final local load.
• source/irc.c: personal startup selection, fallback, and quick startup.
• source/functions.c: which searches load_path by default.
• Makefile.in: installscript copies source script files by basename.