firebot/README

== Firebot ==

FireBot is a winner!

Firebot is an IRC bot combining the functionality of a Linkbot, an
Infobot, and a Clickolinko, which is this cool thing Emad El-Haraty and
I came up with to make short URLs out of stuff posted into the channel,
for people with text browsers that wrap URLs.

Note that, in addition to interacting with FireBot within a channel, you
can also communicate directly with FireBot via `/msg` commands. Just in
case you need a little one-on-one action and don't want spew your
playtime around some channel with other folks watching. That can be *so*
distracting. Some commands still require you to preface them with
FireBot's name. Example:

    /msg firebot firebot: literal ...


Downloading
-----------

You can download a [tarball snapshot of the latest release](http://woozle.org/~neale/repos/?p=firebot;a=snapshot;h=HEAD), or use cogito:

    git clone http://woozle.org/~neale/repos/firebot


LinkBot Features
----------------

Firebot can link channels across networks.  It is present in all
channels and the same functions can be accessed on either side.
Everything said on one channel is relayed to the others.

It is possible to link multiple channels on multiple servers, including
multiple channels on a single server.



ClickLinko (UrlBot)
-------------------

Whenever FireBot sees a URL in the channel, he makes a note of it and
creates a shorter URL out of it.



InfoBot
-------

As an InfoBot, FireBot listens in the channel for anything of the form
"x is y", and then stores that little tidbit.  Later, when someone asks
a question about x ("what is x?", "who is x?", "wtf is x?"), FireBot
answers with the factoid he gathered.

<dl>
<dt>firebot, _x_</dt>
<dd>look up a factoid for _x_</dd>

<dt>firebot, _x_ is _y_</dt>
<dd>store _y_ as a factiod about _x_</dd>

<dt>firebot, _x_ is also _y_</dt>
<dd>store _y_ as another factoid about _x_</dd>

<dt>firebot, append _x_ &lt;= _y_</dt>
<dd>store _y_ as another factoid about _x_.  You'd use this for things where _x_ has the word "is" in it, or other things that you can't store with the preceding commands.</dd>

<dt>no, firebot, _x_ is _y_</dt>
<dd>store _y_ as the only factoid about _x_, even if _x_ already has factoids</dd>

<dt>firebot, literal _x_</dt>
<dd>display all factoids about _x_</dd>

<dt>firebot, lock _x_</dt>
<dd>do not learn any more factoids about _x_</dd>

<dt>firebot, unlock _x_</dt>
<dd>resume learning factoids about _x_</dd>

<dt>firebot, forget _x_</dt>
<dd>forget all factoids about _x_</dd>

<dt>firebot, forget _x_ from _y_</dt>
<dd>forget a single entry (<em>x</em>) that is listed in _y_; _x_ can be a single word, it does not need to be the whole entry</dd>

<dt>firebot, shut up</td>
<dd>make the bot only respond to factoids when addressed specifically</dd>

<dt>firebot, be chatty</td>
<dd>make the bot respond to factoids even when not addressed</dd>

</dl>

In addition, the following tricks can be used within factiods:

* Any factoid beginning with `\\` (a backslash) is displayed directly.
  That is, instead of saying "<firebot> x is y", FireBot just says
  "<firebot> y". 
* Any factoid beginning with <code>:</code> (a colon) is
  displayed an action.  That is, instead of saying "<firebot> x is y",
  FireBot says "* firebot y" 
* You may put `%(sender)s` in the factoid to print the name of the
  person who asked about the factoid (when sent to a user in a private
  message, it's the recipient of the message)



Utilities
---------

<dl>

<dt>firebot, later tell _whom_ _what_</dt>
<dd>The next time _whom_ says something in the channel, deliver the message _what_ publically.</dd>

<dt>firebot, in _time_ say _what_</dt>
<dd>after _time_ (eg. "15 seconds", "2 hours", "5 days"), announce _what_ in the channel</dd>

<dt>seen _whom_</dt>
<dd>Report the last thing said in the channel by _whom_, and how long ago it was said.</dd>

<dt>dict _word_</dt>
<dd>look _word_ up in the dictionary</dd>

<dt>quote _symbol_</dt>
<dd>get a stock quote for _symbol_</dd>

<dt>pollen _zip_</dt>
<dd>report pollen forecast for US zip code _zip_</dd>

<dt>cdecl explain _jibberish_</dt>
<dd>explain the C declaration _jibberish_ (eg. "cdecl explain struct bar *(*foo)[](int)")</dd>

<dt>cdecl declare _english_</dt>
<dd>give the C declaration for _english_ (eg. "cdecl declare foo as pointer to array of function (int) returning pointer to struct bar")</dd>

<dt>how many _x_ in _y_ _z_</dt>
<dd>determine the number of _x_ items that are contained in _y_ amount of _z_ items (eg. how many miles in 1 light year)</dd>

<dt>how much is _amt_ _source_ in _dest_</dt>
<dd>do a currency conversion from _source_ to _dest_.  Both must be three-letter currency codes. (eg. "how much is 100 USD in EUR")</dd>

<dt>calc _expr_</dt>
<dd>calculate _expr_ (eg. "calc 2 * 5")</dd>

</dl>


Toys
----

<dl>

<dt>8ball, _question_</dt>
<dd>consult the magic 8-ball regarding _question_</dd>

<dt>_nickname_++</dt>
<dd>add a whuffie point for _nickname_</dd>

<dt>_nickname_--</dt>
<dd>remove a whuffie point for _nickname_</dd>

<dt>whuffie for _nickname_</dt>
<dd>check the whuffie for _nickname_</dd>

</dl>