New version; Fixes security bugs. 
Thanks to 'Mysidia' (mysidia-v@DARKFIRE.NET) for the bug report.


The following snippet will enable you to lookup words in the 
Merriam-Webster online dictionary from within the mud.

The snippet hooks into the tell command, and is used like this:

tell m-w <word>

to look up <word> in M-W.

The lookup is asynchronous, and will not slow down your mud.

The snippet alters four files:
comm.c, act.comm.c, util/Makefile and a new file, util/webster.c


Enjoy,

Welcor


In comm.c:

Near the top:

byte webster_file_ready = FALSE;/* signal: SIGUSR2 */
RETSIGTYPE websterlink(int sig);
extern void handle_webster_file();

in game_loop(), near the bottom (after the other signal handlers):

    if (webster_file_ready) {
      webster_file_ready = FALSE;
      handle_webster_file();
    }

after RETSIGTYPE unrestrict_game():

RETSIGTYPE websterlink(int sig)
{
  webster_file_ready = TRUE;
}


change:
  my_signal(SIGUSR2, unrestrict_game);
to
  my_signal(SIGUSR2, websterlink);


In act.comm.c:

Near the top:

static long last_webster_teller = -1L;


in do_tell:

  if (!*buf || !*buf2)
    send_to_char(ch, "Who do you wish to tell what??\r\n");
+  else if (!strcmp(buf, "m-w")) {
+    char word[MAX_INPUT_LENGTH], *p, *q; 
+    
+    if (last_webster_teller != -1L) {
+      if (GET_IDNUM(ch) == last_webster_teller) {
+        send_to_char(ch, "You are still waiting for a response.\r\n");
+        return;
+      } else {
+        send_to_char(ch, "Hold on, m-w is busy. Try again in a couple of seconds.\r\n");
+        return;
+      }
+    }
+    /* only a-z and +/- allowed */
+    for (p = buf2, q = word; *p ; p++) {
+      if ((LOWER(*p) <= 'z' && LOWER(*p) >= 'a') || (*p == '+') || (*p == '-')) 
+        *q++ = *p;
+    }
+    *q = '\0';
+    
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "../bin/webster %s %d &", word, (int) getpid());
+    system(buf);
+    last_webster_teller = GET_IDNUM(ch);
+    send_to_char(ch, "You look up '%s' in Merriam-Webster.\r\n", word);
+    
+  } else if (GET_LEVEL(ch) < LVL_IMMORT && !(vict = get_player_vis(ch, buf, NULL, FIND_CHAR_WORLD)))
-  else if (GET_LEVEL(ch) < LVL_IMMORT && !(vict = get_player_vis(ch, buf, NULL, FIND_CHAR_WORLD)))
    send_to_char(ch, "%s", CONFIG_NOPERSON);

At the bottom of the file:

void handle_webster_file(void) {
  struct char_data *find_char(long uid);
  FILE *fl;
  struct char_data *ch = find_char(last_webster_teller);
  char info[MAX_STRING_LENGTH], line[READ_SIZE];
  size_t len = 0, nlen = 0;

  last_webster_teller = -1L;

  if (!ch) /* they quit ? */
    return;
  
  fl = fopen("websterinfo", "r");
  if (!fl) {
    send_to_char(ch, "It seems Merriam-Webster is offline..\r\n");
    return;
  }
  
  unlink("websterinfo");

  get_line(fl, line);
  while (!feof(fl)) {
    nlen = snprintf(info + len, sizeof(info) - len, "%s\r\n", line);
    if (len + nlen >= sizeof(info) || nlen < 0)
      break;
    len += nlen;
    get_line(fl, line);
  }
 
  if (len >= sizeof(info)) {
    const char *overflow = "\r\n**OVERFLOW**\r\n";
    strcpy(info + sizeof(info) - strlen(overflow) - 1, overflow); /* strcpy: OK */
  }
  fclose(fl);


  send_to_char(ch, "You get this feedback from Merriam-Webster:\r\n");
  page_string(ch->desc, info, 1);

}

A new file in src/util/ called webster.c:
/* ************************************************************************
*   File: webster.c                                                       *
*  Usage: communicate with Meriam-Webster Online dictionary and parse     *
*         the resulting html page into a new file called websterinfo      *
*         Please note that this program needs updates when M-W changes    *
*         web layout.                                                     *
*                                                                         *
*  Requires the wget program to contact M-W                               *
*                                                                         *
*  This program is in the public domain.                                  *
*  Written by Thomas Arp (welcor@builderacademy.net)                      *
************************************************************************ */

#define log(msg) fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", msg)

#include "conf.h"
#include "sysdep.h"

#define MEM_USE 10000
char buf[MEM_USE];

int get_line(FILE * fl, char *buf);
void skip_spaces(char **string);
void parse_webster_html(void);
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  int pid = 0;
  
  if (argc != 3) {
    return 0; /* no word/pid given */
  }
  pid = atoi(argv[2]);
  
  snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), 
    "wget http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary\\&va=%s"
    " -Owebster.html -o/dev/null", argv[1]);
  system(buf);

  parse_webster_html();

  if (pid)
    kill(pid, SIGUSR2);

  return (0);
}

void parse_webster_html(void) {
  FILE *infile, *outfile;
  char scanbuf[MEM_USE], *p, *q;
  
  outfile = fopen("websterinfo", "w");
  if (!outfile) 
    exit(1);

  infile = fopen("webster.html", "r");
  if (!infile) {
    fprintf(outfile, "A bug has occured in webster. (no webster.html)");
    fclose(outfile);
    return;
  }

  unlink("webster.html"); /* We can still read */
  
  for ( ; get_line(infile, buf)!=0; ) {
    p = buf;
    skip_spaces(&p);
    /* <PRE> tag means word wasn't found in dictionary */
    /* list on the form 

	 1. <a href="/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=XXX">XXX</a>
	 2. <a href="/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=YYY">YYY</a>
         ...
         </PRE>
       follows */
    if (!strncmp(p, "<PRE>", 5)) {
      fprintf(outfile, "Did you really mean any of these instead ?\n");
      for (; get_line(infile, buf) != 0;) {
        p = buf;
        skip_spaces(&p);
        if (!strncmp(p, "</PRE>", 6))
          break;
        p = strchr(p, '>');
        p++; /* p now points to first letter of word. */
        q = strchr(p, '<');
        *q = '\0';
        fprintf(outfile, "%s\n", p);
      }
      break;
    } else if (!strncmp(p, "Main Entry:", 10)) {
      int coloumn = 0;
      /* Date: means word was found in dictionary */
      /* M-W has changed their site layout, so we need to find the correct line :*/
      while (*p != '<') {
        get_line(infile, buf);
        p = buf;
        skip_spaces(&p);
      }  
      /* The next line contains ALL info on that word. 
       * Including html tags, this can be very much 
       */
      fprintf(outfile, "That means:\n");
      /* remove all tags from this line - ALL tags */
      for (q = scanbuf; *p && q - scanbuf < sizeof(scanbuf); p++) {
        if (*p == '&') {
          /* &gt; and &lt; translates into '"' */
          if ((*(p+1) == 'l' || *(p+1) == 'g') && *(p+2) == 't' && *(p+3) == ';') {
            *q++='"';
            coloumn++;
            p += 3;
            continue;
          }
        }
        if (*p == '<') {
          /* <br> tags translate into '\n' */
          if (*(p+1) == 'b' && *(p+2) == 'r') {
            *q++='\n';
            coloumn = 0;
          }
          for (; *p && *p != '>';p++) ;
          continue;
        }
        if (isspace(*p) && coloumn > 70) { /* wrap at first space after 70th coloumn */
          *q++='\n';
          coloumn = 0;
          continue;
        }
          
        *q++ = *p;
        coloumn++;
      }
      *q = '\0';

      fprintf(outfile, "%s\n", scanbuf);
      break;
    }
  }
  fclose(infile);
 
  fprintf(outfile, "~");
  fclose(outfile);
}

/* get_line reads the next non-blank line off of the input stream.
 * The newline character is removed from the input.  
 */
int get_line(FILE * fl, char *buf)
{
  char temp[MEM_USE];

  do {
    fgets(temp, MEM_USE, fl);
    if (*temp)
      temp[strlen(temp) - 1] = '\0';
  } while (!feof(fl) && !*temp);

  if (feof(fl))
    return (0);
  else {
    strcpy(buf, temp);
    return (1);
  }
}

/*
 * Function to skip over the leading spaces of a string.
 */
void skip_spaces(char **string)
{
  for (; **string && isspace(**string); (*string)++);
}


And finally, to add webster to the available commands, copy all
lines containing 'wld2html' in src/util/Makefile.in and
edit them to contain 'webster' instead. 
run 
    config.status
    make all
reboot, and pray.

Welcor