xpaaccess(1)

💖 xpaaccess(1) — SAORD Documentation 💖

okay bestie, so this is xpaaccess, a lil tool from the SAORD Documentation crew, and it's basically the vibe check for XPA access points. here's everything you need, no cap 💅

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✨ NAME ✨

xpaaccess — see if a template matches any registered XPA access points 🦋

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

xpaaccess [-c] [-h] [-i nsinet] [-m method] [-n] [-t sval,lval] [-u
users] -v <template> [type]

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -c — contact each access point individually, one by one, no shortcuts 👑
• -h — print the help message, the classic cry for help
• -i — access an XPA point on a different machine (this overrides the XPA_NSINET environment variable) 🌈
• -m — override the XPA_METHOD environment variable
• -n — return the number of matches instead of "yes" or "no" 🔢
• -t [s,l] — set the short and long timeouts (overrides XPA_[SHORT,LONG]_TIMEOUT) ⏰
• -u [users] — only allow XPA points from the specified users (overrides XPA_NSUSERS) 🫶
• -v — print info about each successful access point 👀
• -V — print info or error about each access point 💀
• --version — display the version and dip ✌️

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🧚 DESCRIPTION 🧚

So xpaaccess returns "yes" to stdout (with a return error code if 1) whenever there are existing XPA access points that match the template — and the optional access type: g,i,s. Otherwise? It returns "no" (with a return error code of 0). Periodt. 💅

If -n is specified, the number of matches is returned instead — and that goes both to stdout and in the returned error code. And if -v is specified, each access point is displayed to stdout instead of the number of matches. iconic behaviour honestly.

By default, xpaaccess just contacts the xpans name server to find the list of registered access points that match the specified template. It also checks to make sure the specified types are supported by that access point. This is the fastest way to figure out which access points are available. lowkey the speedrun strat ⚡

But listen — an access point might be registered yet not actually available yet, if, for example, the server program hasn't entered its event loop to process XPA requests. awkward!

To find access points that are guaranteed to be available for processing, use the -c (contact) switch. With this switch, xpaaccess contacts each matching XPA server (rather than the name server) to make sure the registered access point really is ready for processing. In this mode, if an access point is registered but not available, xpaaccess will pause for a period of time equal to the XPA_LONG_TIMEOUT, to give the server a chance to ready itself. By default, this timeout is 30 seconds. 😭

You can shorten the time of delay using the -t "short,long" switch. For example, to shorten the delay time to 2 seconds, use:

xpaaccess -c -t "2,2" ds9

The first argument is the short delay value, and it's ignored in this operation (sorry bestie, it's just there for the vibe). The second one is the long delay timeout. 🕰️

Also note (and this is important, don't skip it 🙈): the default xpaaccess method (no -c switch) does not check access control (acls). It only checks whether the access point is both registered with the xpans name server and provides the specified type of access. In other words, the default xpaaccess could return 'yes' when you might not actually have access. 🫠 This mode also always returns 'yes' for the xpans name server itself, regardless of whether the name server is active. The -c (contact) switch, which contacts the access point directly, can and does check the access control (only for servers using version 2.1 and above) and also returns the real status of xpans. slay. 👑

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

See xpa(n) for a list of XPA help pages 💜

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and that's the whole thing bestie, go forth and access point responsibly 🌸✨

version 2.1.15 — July 23, 2013 💖 mwah, love u, bye 🎀