+=head1 NAME
+
+advance_notices.pl - prepare messages to be sent to patrons for nearly due, or due, items
+
+=head1 SYNOPSIS
+
+advance_notices.pl
+ [ -n ][ -m <number of days> ][ --itemscontent <comma separated field list> ][ -c ]
+
+=head1 OPTIONS
+
+=over 8
+
+=item B<--help>
+
+Print a brief help message and exits.
+
+=item B<--man>
+
+Prints the manual page and exits.
+
+=item B<-v>
+
+Verbose. Without this flag set, only fatal errors are reported.
+
+=item B<-n>
+
+Do not send any email. Advanced or due notices that would have been sent to
+the patrons are printed to standard out.
+
+=item B<-m>
+
+Defines the maximum number of days in advance to send advance notices.
+
+=item B<-c>
+
+Confirm flag: Add this option. The script will only print a usage
+statement otherwise.
+
+=item B<--itemscontent>
+
+comma separated list of fields that get substituted into templates in
+places of the E<lt>E<lt>items.contentE<gt>E<gt> placeholder. This
+defaults to date_due,title,author,barcode
+
+Other possible values come from fields in the biblios, items and
+issues tables.
+
+=back
+
+=head1 DESCRIPTION
+
+This script is designed to alert patrons when items are due, or coming due
+
+=head2 Configuration
+
+This script pays attention to the advanced notice configuration
+performed by borrowers in the OPAC, or by staff in the patron detail page of the intranet. The content of the messages is configured in Tools -> Notices and slips. Advanced notices use the PREDUE template, due notices use DUE. More information about the use of this
+section of Koha is available in the Koha manual.
+
+=head2 Outgoing emails
+
+Typically, messages are prepared for each patron with due
+items, and who have selected (or the library has elected for them) Advance or Due notices.
+
+These emails are staged in the outgoing message queue, as are messages
+produced by other features of Koha. This message queue must be
+processed regularly by the
+F<misc/cronjobs/process_message_queue.pl> program.
+
+In the event that the C<-n> flag is passed to this program, no emails
+are sent. Instead, messages are sent on standard output from this
+program. They may be redirected to a file if desired.
+
+=head2 Templates
+
+Templates can contain variables enclosed in double angle brackets like
+E<lt>E<lt>thisE<gt>E<gt>. Those variables will be replaced with values
+specific to the overdue items or relevant patron. Available variables
+are:
+
+=over
+
+=item E<lt>E<lt>items.contentE<gt>E<gt>
+
+one line for each item, each line containing a tab separated list of
+date due, title, author, barcode
+
+=item E<lt>E<lt>borrowers.*E<gt>E<gt>
+
+any field from the borrowers table
+
+=item E<lt>E<lt>branches.*E<gt>E<gt>
+
+any field from the branches table
+
+=back
+
+=head1 SEE ALSO
+
+The F<misc/cronjobs/overdue_notices.pl> program allows you to send
+messages to patrons when their messages are overdue.
+=cut
+
+binmode( STDOUT, ':encoding(UTF-8)' );