GNU direvent-5.2 released [stable]

[Sergey Poznyakoff]

Hello,

This is to announce the release of GNU direvent version 5.2.

GNU direvent monitors file system directories for events, such as
creating, deleting or modifying files. When an event is detected,
direvent calls an external program associated with it, passing it
the information about the event and the location within the file
system where it occured.

GNU Direvent provides an easy way to configure the system to react
immediately if certain files undergo changes. This may be helpful, for
example, to track changes in important configuration files. 

The program aims to provide a uniform and system-independent
command-level interface for file system events. The current version is
known to work on GNU/Linux (kernels starting from v. 2.6.13) and BSD
systems (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Darwin).

See the end of this message for a list of changes in this release.

Here are the compressed sources and a GPG detached signature[*]:
  http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/direvent/direvent-5.2.tar.gz
  http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/direvent/direvent-5.2.tar.gz.sig

Use a mirror for higher download bandwidth:
  https://www.gnu.org/order/ftp.html

Here are the MD5 and SHA1 checksums:

3af3340ba9fce2cbd6580c19817fe811  direvent-5.2.tar.gz
33be8cd86c9eb8e90611dc6ebae67c9404141f1a  direvent-5.2.tar.gz

[*] Use a .sig file to verify that the corresponding file (without the
.sig suffix) is intact.  First, be sure to download both the .sig file
and the corresponding tarball.  Then, run a command like this:

  gpg --verify direvent-5.2.tar.gz.sig

If that command fails because you don't have the required public key,
then run this command to import it:

  gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv-keys 3602B07F55D0C732

and rerun the 'gpg --verify' command.

Noteworthy changes in this release:

* The path statement can refer to a regular file.

Prior versions of direvent required the argument to the "path"
statement to refer to an existing directory.  This requirement is now
lifted.  The pathname can refer to any type of file (not only a
directory).  Moreover, the file is not required to exist.  If it does
not exist, direvent will set up an auxiliary watcher (called a
"sentinel"), that will wake up upon creation of the file with that
pathname and will set up the configured watcher once it is created.

The process is reversed when the file referred to by the "path"
statement is deleted.  In that case, the configured watcher is
deactivated and a sentinel is set up which will bring it back when the
destination file or directory is created.

This mode of operation ensures that the configured watcher will always
be operational.

* Fix watcher removal on BSD-like systems.

* Configuration changes

** multiple environ statements

Multiple environ statements can be used within a single watcher block.
Such statements accumulate.

Best regards,
Sergey