NCIDD.ALIAS(5)

💖 NCIDD.ALIAS 💖

okay bestie, gather round, we're talking about ncidd.alias(5) — that's the manual page for the NCID Server Alias File ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

ncidd.alias — the NCID Server Alias File, aka the glow-up document for your Caller ID ✨

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

The ncidd.alias file is where all the alias info for ncidd, the NCID Server, lives. It's giving matchmaker for Caller ID names and numbers 💖 — and not only that, it also holds the aliases for telephone line identifiers too. so many jobs, so iconic.

The ncidd.alias file understands 3 types of lines, and only 3:

• blank line: ignored. not even looked at. ghosted. 👻
• comment line, beginning with #: also ignored. it said what it said and we moved on. 💅
• alias line: processed. this is the main character. 👑

here's what an alias line looks like:

alias [NMBR|NAME] ["]FROM["] = ["]TO["] [if ["]VALUE["]]
alias [LINE] ["]FROM["] = ["]TO["
     where  NMBR, NAME or LINE is a KEYWORD
            FROM is a CID string:
                 can be a '*' (match everything) when using if
            TO is the alias for the FROM string
            VALUE is a NAME if KEYWORD = NMBR
            VALUE is a NMBR if KEYWORD = NAME
                  can contain a '^' (partial match from beginning)
            VALUE is a LINE if KEYWORD = LINE

so like, breaking it down fr fr:

• NMBR, NAME or LINE is a KEYWORD
• FROM is a CID string — and ngl, it can be a '*' (match everything) when using if 👀
• TO is the alias for the FROM string
• VALUE is a NAME if KEYWORD = NMBR
• VALUE is a NMBR if KEYWORD = NAME — and it can contain a '^' (partial match from beginning) 🎯
• VALUE is a LINE if KEYWORD = LINE

✨ Alias Types ✨

these are the flavors, pick your vibe:

NAME and NMBR: alias <name> = <new name>
NAME: alias NAME <name> = <new name>
NMBR: alias NMBR <number> = <new number>
LINE: alias LINE <line> = <new line>
(the name, number and line can contain a simple posix or pcre expression)

NAMEDEP: NAME * = <new name> if <number>
NMBRDEP: NMBR * = <new number> if <name>
(the The '*' in NAMEDEP and NMBRDEP is a placeholder and is ignored)

lowkey obsessed with the fact that the name, number and line can contain a simple posix or pcre expression 🧚 — regex girlies, this one's for you.

and heads up: that '*' in NAMEDEP and NMBRDEP is a placeholder and is ignored. it's just there for the aesthetic, not the function. periodt.

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🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

okay these are so satisfying, watch:

Change OUT-OF-AREA to UNAVAILABLE in both name and number fields:

alias OUT-OF-AREA = UNAVAILABLE

Change OUT-OF-AREA to UNAVAILABLE in the name field only:

alias NAME OUT-OF-AREA = UNAVAILABLE

Change any name to a specific name for a phone number:

alias NAME * = "John on cell" if 4075551212

Change any name to a specific name matching the beginning of a phone number:

alias NAME * = "Toll Free" if ^800

Mask a phone number:

alias NMBR 4075551212 = "----------"

The default line indicator for a POTS line is -. and bestie, the ncid client will not display the - indicator. so if you wanna display 'POTS' for a POTS line:

alias LINE - = POTS

To not display a gateway line indicator, change it from the one received to a -. If the line indicator is '1122':

alias LINE 1122 = -

Change any line indicator to VOIP. 👑 but be careful — place this after a POTS line indicator if a POTS line is also present:

alias LINE * = VOIP

⚠️ fr fr, that ordering thing is not a drill. put the LINE * wildcard last or it'll eat everything before the specific ones get a chance. 💀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

ncidd.8, ncidd.conf.5, ncidd.blacklist.5, ncidd.whitelist.5 — go read them, they're all part of the family 🫶

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and that's the whole page bestie, no notes 💅

this was NCID, dated 2024-06-23 — the NCID manual, serving NCIDD.ALIAS(5) realness ✨ 💖🎀🦋🌸