Some bots have their packlists on web pages. Two bots I use frequently are
Cerebrate and
Ginpachi-Sensei:
Sadly, another favorite - the web packlist for #NEWS - has been down for quite a while.
Anyway, the newest packs (files) can be found at the bottom of the list.
On the Cerebrate packlist, just hover over a filename and it will display the "
/msg Cerebrate XDCC send nnnn" text. You can type that to get your file inside any Rizon IRC channel that hosts Cerebrate, like #Doki or #NEWS.
(The Cerebrate hover display also shows you the md5 and crc32 checksums in case you like to check either of those after downloading. I tried to screencap it but the popup goes away as soon as I hit Alt.)The command you type is usually the same except for which bot you're messaging and the number at the end. Once you've had some experience with IRC/XDCC, you can just look at the left column for the pack number and you'll know to type:
/msg [botname] xdcc send [pack number]Even easier, clicking a filename on the Gin web packlist will give you a popup where you can just copy and paste the xdcc send /msg into your IRC client.
One bonus about the Ginpachi-Sensei bot is that you don't have to be connected to any specific channel. It will send from wherever in Rizon you are. Cerebrate requires that you be in one of the same IRC channels as the bot, otherwise you get the
-Cerebrate- ** XDCC SEND denied, you must be on a known channel to request a pack error message.
Another tip is getting multiple files from a given bot: Say you've looked at the Gin packlist and you decide you want more than one file. Use the xdcc batch command rather than the xdcc send command and it will send you all the files you select, usually one by one. If you want a group of files in sequence it would be:
/msg Ginpachi-Sensei xdcc batch 5909-5914 for all the packs from 5909 to 5914.
If you just want specific files, separate the numbers with commas:
/msg Ginpachi-Sensei xdcc batch 5909,5911,5914Each bot will usually have some limit set to the number of files you can batch up, often 5 or 10. Batch sends don't work on every bot, only if the owner has set it up. Most bots will only send one file at a time and have the rest queued up, but some will allow two or three simultaneous downloads at once.
Finally, if you won't be watching while your entire batch downloads, you probably want to turn on the Auto-Get feature. In mIRC it's in the Tools menu under Options, then in the DCC section:
Most of the time it is safest to leave the
Show get dialog selected. However, the
Auto-get is useful if you won't be there to say OK to each individual Get dialog box as your batch progresses.
Have fun.
*edit* Another thing I thought of: Say you're in a Rizon channel and you see a bot announce a new file release. It sounds interesting and you're curious what else is there. Most bots have a text file with their packlist as the very first pack. If you do a
/msg [botname] xdcc send -1 that will usually send you the packlist that you can check out at your leisure.
You'll want to be sure mIRC is allowing .txt files: In the Options, DCC section, Ignore subsection look at the list to see which file types are accepted.
If .txt files aren't listed, enter a
*.txt into the File type box and click Add.
