diff --git a/Community_News/Thanking_hosts_at_end_of_year.md b/Community_News/Thanking_hosts_at_end_of_year.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..521e183 --- /dev/null +++ b/Community_News/Thanking_hosts_at_end_of_year.md @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +# Thanking hosts at the end of the year + +## Introduction + +Every year, in the last Community News recording (for December) it has been the +norm to list all of the hosts who have contributed. A list of host names is +assembled for this purpose, included in the notes and read out by the +volunteers. + +## Method + +A Bash script exists, called `thanks_to_hosts`, which manages the generation of +the list of hosts. The end product is a piece of HTML for insertion into the +notes. + +The script is invoked simply by typing: +``` +thanks_to_hosts +``` +By default, the script uses the current year when generating the list of hosts. +If, as may happen, the list is being generated in the next year, then a 4-digit +year can be given in as an argument. + +### Items required to run + +The `thanks_to_hosts` script requires a number of tools and files to run: + +- `query2tt2` - this is a Perl script which performs a database query and hands + the results to Template Toolkit template. + +- `hpr.db` - a SQLite database which contains a copy of the live HPR database. + This needs to have been refreshed in the recent past. + +- `.hpr_sqlite.cfg` - the configuration file for `query2tt2` to indicate what + type of database is being used and where to find it. + +- `hosts_in_year.sqlite.sql` - a file containing the query used (using SQLite + syntax) + +- `hosts_list.tpl` - the template which will be used to generate HTML + +### Output file + +Running the script `thanks_to_hosts`, if successful, will result in the +generation of a file called `hosts_in_year_${YEAR}.html`, where `${YEAR}` is +replaced by the default or explicit year. The script will report the name of +this file for convenience. + +