---
name: "nnspew"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "nn"
version: "6.7.3-10+b2"
release: "Debian 10 (Buster)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/nnspew"
---

# nnspew(8)

subject database manager (nn)

## NAME

nnspew - subject database manager (nn)

## SYNOPSIS

**nnspew**

## DESCRIPTION

*nnspew* builds a sorted database of all available subjects in the *nn* article database for fast access via the *nngrab* utility.

*nnspew* should be activated regularly to rebuild the subject database, e.g. by *cron*.  For example:

   2 6,9,12,15,18,21 \* \* \*  root /bin/nice /usr/lib/nn/nnspew

Cross posted articles are only represented in the database once, and identical subjects in each group are merged into one to use a minimum of disk space.  This saves about 50% of the disk space otherwise required.

## FILES

$db/subjects	subject database

## SEE ALSO

[nn(1)](/nn/1.md), [nngrab(1)](/nngrab/1.md), [egrep(1)](/egrep/1.md)

## NOTES

*nngrap* will use the subject database generated by *nnspew* independent of its age.  Thus, if you stop running *nnspew*, remember to remove the subjects file as well.

## BUGS

*nnmaster* should automatically append new articles to the subject database to keep it up-to-date, and thus require less frequent rebuilding using *nnspew*.

## AUTHOR

James A. Woods, NASA Ames Research Center\
 E-mail: jaw@ames.arc.nasa.gov