zaway uses a message file (which defaults to $HOME/.away) to describe what reponses should be sent to which senders. The general format of this file is:
>name
>name
message
>name
message
Any number of user names may be specified preceding the message to send to those senders. If a user name appears more than once, the message will be a concatenation of each of the appropriate messages. There are two special names: "*" indicates that the following message should be sent to all senders and "%" indicates that the following message should only be sent if the user name has not matched yet.
If no file is specified, and no default file can be found, the following message is returned:
I'm sorry, but I am currently away from the terminal and am not able to receive your message.
If a user name does not match any of those listed in the file, and no "*" or "%" field is specified, no return message is sent. All messages are preceded by the line "Automated reply:". To avoid loops, messages are not sent in response to messages beginning with "Automated reply:" or sent by the same Kerberos principal as the user running zaway.
>eichin >tony Hi there guys! I'm in the other room right now. I'll be back in 5 minutes or so. >jruser Sorry, but I'm gone for the day... >% Hello...I'm not sure who you are. I'll be back soon, though. >* This message comes to you compliments of zaway!
The final "compliments" message will be included in all messages, whereas the "I'm not sure" message will only be included in messages that are not from "eichin", "tony", or "jruser".
Robert S. French (MIT-Project Athena)