Re: [Pan-users] Files with a cryptic name

[Duncan]

Robert Derochette posted on Wed, 30 Apr 2014 23:17:27 +0200 as excerpted:

> I'm new to this list and this is my first post, so sorry if this subject
> has already been discussed before. If I import some nzb's I get a
> collection of files <cryptic>.nzb <cryptic>.1 <cryptic>.2 (...)
> where <cryptic> is always the "same word".
> 
> For example,
> http://www.nzbindex.nl/
release/106777659/7bcc7cbe77deaf35c29c5fcbc40b930b-0191-2cca74bf1aeb824604c5e2cb5353f5e6.10.nzb

[I could try to rewrap that but won't bother.  It's in the original 
message anyway.]

> 
> Pan will then download 2cca74bf1aeb824604c5e2cb5353f5e6.XX ,where XX is
> a number. Those files look like .rar files (and they actually are).
> It took me time (and a lot of Googling ;-)) to figure out how to manage
> that collection. The solution is to use par2 to rename the files.
> 
> Issue the following command : par2 r *.par2 *
> 
> pan2 will also have downloaded the par2 files related to the nzb which
> is ok for the renaming.
> 
> Now my question is: Isn't it possible to automate this process?

First, please turn off the HTML.  It's abusive to those with clients like 
pan that don't handle HTML, and HTML messages can be big security issues 
for those who choose to run clients that DO handle HTML.  If a message 
needs HTML in ordered to be worth reading, it's *NOT* worth reading, and 
is sent by either spammers and/or malware purveyors, or by users who 
either simply don't care that their messages look like spam/malware or 
simply don't know.  Since you're new to the list, in the event you're in 
the latter group, now you know.  Please act accordingly. =:^)

To answer your question, yes of course it can be automated.  A little bit 
of shell script duplicating the commands you issue manually one by one, 
and voila! you've automated it.  That's what makes shell scripting so 
nice, in it's simplest form it's simply the same commands you'd issue 
individually, collected into a file, with the key variables handled as 
just that, shell variables (with values normally fed in on the 
commandline), in ordered to make the shell script usefully generic, 
instead of having to rewrite it for each use, which is what you're 
effectively doing when you issue the commands one by one, manually. =:^)

Depending on how that script is written, you can either download each 
fileset to a different directory and simply run the script in a directory 
to have it par2/combine/unrar the files, possibly putting the output file 
in the parent dir, or hard-coding a specific dir to put it in, OR, you 
can have the script take the name from a specific file, perhaps the *.nzb 
or *.01 file, and have it automatically find all files with the same 
basename and par2/combine/unrar them, placing them in hard-coded 
directory of choice.  (Or that hard-coded dest-dir can be put in a config 
file or the like instead, if desired, the idea to minimize interactivity 
and automate as much as possible.)  In the latter file basename case, you 
could then associate the script with a filetype (probably either the *.nzb 
or the *.01/*.001 files) and then could simply click that file in your 
file manager to activate the script.

If you're no good at writing scripts and would like, simply post the 
specific commands you do, in order, for a couple example cases, and tell 
me which of the two solutions above (all in subdir or file basename, 
along with the file extension you're going to associate it with), and I  
can probably write the script for you (assuming no one else gets to it 
first).  Also tell me whether you'd like it to simply place the output in 
the parent dir, or what specific target dir you wish hardcoded.

As for the association, the specifics of that will depend on your desktop 
environment of choice.  Here I use kde (with dolphin or gwenview as the 
file manager, or mc in a terminal window for a lot of things) so could 
give you instructions on that step for either kde or mc if that would 
help.

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman