--- a/.hgignore	Sat Oct 01 00:24:12 2016 +0000
+++ b/.hgignore	Sat Oct 01 00:54:04 2016 +0000
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@
 
 ^build-
 ^helpers/makeline$
+^helpers/str2ind-ver$

--- a/helpers/Makefile	Sat Oct 01 00:24:12 2016 +0000
+++ b/helpers/Makefile	Sat Oct 01 00:54:04 2016 +0000
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 CC=	gcc
 CFLAGS=	-O2
-PROGS=	makeline
+PROGS=	makeline str2ind-ver
 
 all:	${PROGS}
 
 makeline:	makeline.c
 	${CC} ${CFLAGS} -o $@ $@.c
 
+str2ind-ver:	str2ind-ver.c
+	${CC} ${CFLAGS} -o $@ $@.c
+
 clean:
 	rm -f ${PROGS}

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/helpers/str2ind-ver.c	Sat Oct 01 00:54:04 2016 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * This utility extracts the timestamp from a str2ind.tab file
+ * and emits the corresponding char *str2ind_version C line.
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <strings.h>
+
+main(argc, argv)
+	char **argv;
+{
+	FILE *inf;
+	char buf[32], *cp;
+
+	if (argc != 2) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s str2ind.tab\n", argv[0]);
+		exit(1);
+	}
+	inf = fopen(argv[1], "r");
+	if (!inf) {
+		perror(argv[1]);
+		exit(1);
+	}
+	if (!fgets(buf, sizeof buf, inf)) {
+inv:		fprintf(stderr,
+			"Error: %s does not have the expected first line\n",
+			argv[1]);
+		exit(1);
+	}
+	cp = index(buf, '\n');
+	if (!cp || cp == buf)
+		goto inv;
+	*cp = '\0';
+	if (cp[-1] == '\r')
+		*--cp = '\0';
+	if (cp != buf + 10)
+		goto inv;
+	printf("char *str2ind_version = \"&%s\";\n", buf);
+	exit(0);
+}