mvmf: cdbgen man page

CDBGEN(1)                   General Commands Manual                   CDBGEN(1)

NAME
       cdbgen - Create a cdb file from generic input

SYNOPSIS
       cdbgen [-o output-file] [-s key/value separator string] [input-file]

DESCRIPTION
       cdbgen  creates  a cdb file from the input file.  A 'cdb' file is a con-
       stant database file as specified by  D.  J.  Bernstein,  providing  fast
       keyed  lookup  on non-changing data.  "Non-changing" means that the data
       doesn't change for the life of a particular  application's  access,  but
       the  entire cdb file can indeed be regenerated between application invo-
       cations.

       cdbgen provides a tool similar to djb's 'cdbmake' but  with  a  slightly
       more flexible input format.  See discussion below.

       Options which may be given are as follows:

       -o output-file
              The name of the cdb file to create.

       -s key/value separator string.
              See discussion below.

OPERATION
       cdbgen  produces a cdb file from its input, either from the named input-
       file or, if no input-file is specified, from stdin.  Each  line  of  the
       input file is either a comment, a blank line, or a data line.

       Comment lines begin with a '#' character.

       If  any  line  begins with a backslash (\), the backslash is skipped and
       the line is processed as a non-comment line.  This allows a '#'  charac-
       ter to be used as a key (by preceding it with a backslash).

       For  convenience  and  readability,  a physical line may be continued by
       ending it with a backslash character (immediately prior to  any  newline
       character).  This includes comment lines.

       Blank lines are ignored.

       Each  data  line contains a key string and a data string, separated by a
       separator string.  By default the separator string is ":"  (that  is,  a
       colon), but you can specify a different separator with the -s option.

       cdbgen  does  not  do any finagling or moving around of output files: it
       assumes that the file you specify is the one  you  want  created.   It's
       best  if  you  use  this program to generate a temporary file, which may
       then be installed if it's created successfully.

SEE ALSO
       http://www.mvmf.org/ -- the mvmf web site.

       cdb -- djb's cdb information at
       http://cr.yp.to/cdb.html

CREDITS TO
       M. Mallett  (mem@mvmf.org)    2005-2007,2024-2025 created  this  wrapper
       program  and man page, using djb's fundamental cdb creation functions in
       cdb_make et al.

BUGS
       You tell me..

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