Importing an existing BBS file base

tools/bbs-files-tool.py builds the .descriptions.json cache used by
ANetBBS from a traditional FILES.BBS or FILES.BSS file.

The original index file is never modified, renamed, hidden, or deleted.

Preview

python3 tools/bbs-files-tool.py -bd \
  --filebase /opt/anetbbs/data/files/OS2.BBS \
  --file.bbs /opt/anetbbs/data/files/OS2.BBS/FILES.BSS \
  --dry-run

Build the cache

sudo python3 tools/bbs-files-tool.py -bd \
  --filebase /opt/anetbbs/data/files/OS2.BBS \
  --file.bbs /opt/anetbbs/data/files/OS2.BBS/FILES.BSS

The output is written to:

/opt/anetbbs/data/files/OS2.BBS/.descriptions.json

If an older cache exists, the tool creates a timestamped backup before
replacing it atomically.

Description sources

Descriptions are selected in this order:

1. Matching entry in FILES.BBS or FILES.BSS
2. FILE_ID.DIZ inside an archive
3. Header from FILELIST or FILELIST.*
4. Header from README, README.*, or READ.ME
5. Description coming soon

At the end of the run, files for which no real description source was found
are listed for the sysop.

Legacy encodings

The tool can automatically detect common legacy encodings:

• UTF-8
• CP437
• CP850
• Latin-1

An encoding can also be selected explicitly:

python3 tools/bbs-files-tool.py -bd \
  --filebase /path/to/filebase \
  --file.bbs /path/to/filebase/FILES.BBS \
  --files-bbs-encoding cp437 \
  --diz-encoding cp437

Archive support

ZIP and TAR-family archives are handled by Python directly. For older ZIP
compression methods and additional formats, install 7zz or 7z.

Strict mode

Use --strict to prevent writing the cache when the index references missing
files or archive inspection reports an error:

python3 tools/bbs-files-tool.py -bd \
  --filebase /path/to/filebase \
  --file.bbs /path/to/filebase/FILES.BBS \
  --strict

Help and contact

python3 tools/bbs-files-tool.py --help

Requests: neo67@linuxmintusers.de