getfilename(1)

💅 getfilename(1) — tiny program, main character energy ✨

okay so this is the General Commands Manual page for getfilename(1), and it's lowkey a tiny little file-name asker with a very specific job. 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

getfilename — Ask the user to name a file in a given format. That's it, that's the name. 💖

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

getfilename  format-name file-name

✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so getfilename will ask the user for the name of a file in the specified format, and will copy that file to the file-name given as the second argument. slay. 💅

If this doesn't sound very useful by itself, you're right. However, this turns out to be all you need in order to add some useful functionality to mailcap-oriented programs such as mailto(1). For example, the following line in a mailcap file allows mailto to help the user include PostScript in outgoing mail: 👑

application/postscript ; lpr -Pipa %s ; description="Include a
Postscript File";compose="getfilename Postscript %s"

That's the exact line, no cap. 🫶

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• mailto(1)
• metamail(1)

💀 BUGS 💀

ngl, the manpage says: “This is such a tiny program it might actually be bug-free, but I wouldn't bet on it.” And honestly? Respect the honesty. 💀

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

okay legal bestie moment — this next part is the exact copyright and permission notice, no edits, because we do not mess with license text. 👑

Copyright (c) 1991 Bell Communications Research, Inc. (Bellcore) Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this material for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies, and that the name of Bellcore not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to this material without the specific, prior written permission of an authorized representative of Bellcore. BELLCORE MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE ACCURACY OR SUITABILITY OF THIS MATERIAL FOR ANY PURPOSE. IT IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES.

🫶 AUTHOR 🫶

Nathaniel S. Borenstein, Bellcore — shoutout to the author, iconic. 🫶

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okay that's the whole page — getfilename(1), General Commands Manual, Release 1, and there's no date in the footer, so no invented date, periodt. Bye bestie! 💖✨