UNIX Export Parser

Greg Boehnlein ( damin@seka.nacs.net )
Tue, 11 Mar 1997 01:59:36 -0500 (EST)

Hello all,
I've just had some time to sit down and implement the framework
for a Unix side Emerald Export parser. This is loosely based on the perl
code that can be found in the EmerUX package (Which doesn't work for the
most part).
The new parser that I am working on is written in Ansi C, so it
should be portable accross platforms. It is by no means complete at this
point, and is simply a starting framework for developing further
applications on top of. I am initially building it on Linux (RedHat 4.1 to
be exact) but I'm willing to make it cross-compilable if people care to
help me with specific patches on their OS.

I intend to release this code under the GNU Public License for all to use
and enjoy.

Since there are some discrepancies in the way that Emerald is
exporting information as to how the EmerUX code is looking for it, I'm
sort of at a loss on where to go next without specific direction from Dale
or IEA.
The framework is open enough to be intergrated easily with a
Socket interface, or to be used as a file-parser.

Further development of this code cannot continue until I know the
following..

1. I am assuming that Emerald has 4 Export commands based on the code
found in the EmerUX package. These commands are..
ADD - Add a new account
DEL - Delete an existing account
EXT - Extend an existing accounts expiration date
CHG - Change the finger or /etc/passwd info for and account.

- Is this correct? If not, what should I be looking at?

2. I am also assuming that each "export" record will start with a
"command", followed by a specific set of data. Again, from the EmerUX
code, I've grokked this..

# Okay. We are going to have a list of commands. Here are the options:
# ADD login expr pass email name region software accounttype
# DEL login (n/a) (n/a) email
# EXT login expr (n/a) email
# CHG login (field) (new value)

- Is this correct? If not, what DOES emerald Export?

3. I'm defining, in a seperate header file, the actual structures for
the commands so that it is extensible without monkeying with the
source code too much.

- Does anyone really have any definitive information on the data
structures used in the Emerald Standard / Export functions?

Thanks,
Any more info would be greatly appreciated...

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