/ 
App-orgadb-0.010
River stage one • 1 direct dependent • 1 total dependent
/ orgadb-sel

NAME

orgadb-sel - Select entries and fields from Org addressbook

VERSION

This document describes version 0.010 of orgadb-sel (from Perl distribution App-orgadb), released on 2022-10-09.

SYNOPSIS

First, create a configuration file ~/.config/orgadb.conf containing something like the following (use INI syntax, or IOD to be more exact):

; specify your addressbook files here
files = ~/addressbook.org
files = /path/to/another-addressbook.org

Suppose you have ~/addressbook.org like the following (entries are written as level-2 headings, level 1 is used for categories, hierarchical categories can be written using breadcrumb-style notation with ">" separator):

* family
** iwan
- home phone :: 555-1234-567
- cell :: 555-8765-432
- address ::
  + street :: Jl Mangga 123
  + city :: Bandung
  + postcode :: 40123
  + country :: Indonesia
** restu
- cell :: 555-1234-568
** satya

* family > wife's
** roger
** emily
** cynthia

* work > acme inc
** bugs
** daffy

* work > acme inc > ex
** marvin

* work > newsradio
** dave
** lisa
- cell :: 555-1234-710
- home phone :: 555-1234-712
- note ::
  + [2022-07-03] :: do not call after office hours
** joe
- cell :: 555-1234-569
- cell :: 555-1234-570
** beth

* work > newsradio > ex
** matthew

Listing all entries

To list all entries (categories will be shown as path prefix):

% orgadb-sel
** family/iwan
** family/restu
** family/satya
** family > wife's/roger
** family > wife's/emily
** family > wife's/cynthia
** work > acme inc/bugs
** work > acme inc/daffy
** work > acme inc > ex/ marvin
** work > newsradio/dave
** work > newsradio/lisa
** work > newsradio/joe
** work > newsradio/beth
** work > newsradio > ex/matthew

Searching entries by name

To list entries that match the string 'sa':

% orgadb-sel sa
** family/satya
** work > newsradio/lisa

To hide the category prefix, use -C (--hide-category):

% orgadb-sel -C sa
** satya
** lisa

Filtering entries by categories

To only include entries that have certain category name, use the -c option:

% orgadb-sel sa -c work; # search for entries 'sa' from category 'work'
** work > newsradio/lisa

% orgadb-sel -c work; # list all entries from category 'work'
** work > newsradio/dave
** work > newsradio/lisa
** work > newsradio/joe
** work > newsradio/beth
** work > newsradio > ex/matthew

To display Lisa's full entry:

% orgadb-sel lisa -l
** work > newsradio/lisa
- cell :: 555-1234-710
- home phone :: 555-1234-712
- note ::
  + [2022-07-03] :: do not call after office hours

% orgadb-sel lisa -Cl  ;# do not show the category
** lisa
- cell :: 555-1234-710
- home phone :: 555-1234-712
- note ::
  + [2022-07-03] :: do not call after office hours

% orgadb-sel lisa -El  ;# do not show the entry line
- cell :: 555-1234-710
- home phone :: 555-1234-712
- note ::
  + [2022-07-03] :: do not call after office hours

Filtering entries by the fields they have

Aside from filterin by category, we can filter entries by the fields they have. For example, to only list entries that have 'bank information' field:

% orgadb-sel --filter-entries-by-fields '/bank information/'

Another example, to only include entries that have 'deceased' field set to 'true' or 'y/'yes':

% orgadb-sel --filter-entries-by-fields '/deceased/ = /(?:true|yes|y)/i'

Searching fields

To get Lisa's cell phone number (search against field):

% orgadb-sel lisa cell
** work > newsradio/lisa
- cell :: 555-1234-710

To get Lisa's cell phone number (only the number, without the entry headline or the field name):

% orgadb-sel lisa cell -E -N
555-1234-710

To get all Lisa's phone numbers:

% orgadb-sel lisa -E '/phone|cell/'
- cell :: 555-1234-710
- home phone :: 555-1234-712

You can also search subfields. For example, to show Iwan's postcode field value under the address field:

% orgadb-sel iwan address postcode -EN
40123

Formatting

You can apply one or more formatters to field values:

% orgadb-sel lisa cell --formatter Str::remove_non_digit -EN
5551234710

Shell mode

Instead of selecting one time and exiting, you can instruct orgadb to enter shell mode, where you can issue multiple select commands without re-reading the Org addressbook files repeatedly. For example:

% orgadb-sel -s
> select lisa
...
> select lisa -l
...
> select lisa cell -E -N
...
> exit

% _

When the addressbook files change on disk, the files will be re-read.

Password book

Aside from a regular addressbook, you can also use orgadb with password books (a file you store passwords in). orgadb can read GnuPG-encrypted files, where the decrypted content is read into memory and not stored in temporary files. You can then use shell mode (-s) to repeatedly query the password book without re-reading and re-decrypting everytime. For example, suppose you have a password book like this:

# -*- Mode: org -*-
* persona > perlancar
** google (perlancar)
- username :: perlancar
- pass :: secret1
- security question :: favorite dog in the whole wide world?
- security answer :: impossible to pick one
- log ::
  + [2022-07-04 Mon] :: change password
  + [2017-08-01] :: create
** twitter (perlancar)
- username :: perlancar
- pass :: secret2
* persona > steven
** google (steven123123)
- username :: steven123123
- phone :: 555-123-2345
- pass :: secret3

and you store it in ~/passwords.gpg. Then to query passwords:

# What's my (perlancar)'s google password?
% orgadb-sel -f ~/passwords.gpg /google.+perlancar/ pass -EN
secret1

# What's my (steven)'s phone used in the google account?
% orgadb-sel -f ~/passwords.gpg /google.+steven/ '/phone|cell/' -EN
555-123-2345

Or, in shell mode:

% orgadb-sel -f ~/passwords.gpg -s
> select /google.+perlancar/ pass -EN
secret1
> select /google.+steven/ '/phone|cell/' -EN
555-123-2345
> exit

% _

DESCRIPTION

App::orgadb is a set of CLIs for addressbook written in Org format. It currently contains:

  • orgadb-sel

    CLI to list/select addressbook entries and fields.

The addressbook must be written following a certain structure, as shown in the Synopsis. The first heading level is for putting categories. The second heading level is where you put all your entries. Fields are written in description list.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Aliasing orgadb-sel to a shorter command name

If you are like me and you select from addressbook a lot, you might want to alias orgadb-sel to a shorter name, e.g. sel. To do this, create this script somewhere in your PATH:

#!/usr/bin/env perl
# FRAGMENT id=shcompgen-hint command=orgadb-sel
exec "orgadb-sel", @ARGV;

The # FRAGMENT line is optional (it's useful if you use shcompgen). In your bash startup file, put something like:

complete -C orgadb-sel sel

or if you shcompgen, run shcompgen gen sel instead.

Tab completion

The script provides tab completion for category, entry, and field, so you can type:

% orgadb-sel --category <tab>        ;# see what categories are available
% orgadb-sel lis<tab>                ;# complete with entries matching 'lis'
% orgadb-sel lisa <tab>              ;# complete with available fields or /lisa/ entries

Using field formatters

Suppose you want to format phone number using international notation:

% orgadb-sel lisa phone -f Phone::format

Using default field formatter rules

Instead of specifying formatters everytime, you can setup rules for default formatters in the configuration file:

default_formatter_rules={"field_name_matches":"/te?lp|wa|phone|whatsapp|hp/i", "formatters":["Phone::format_idn_nospace"]}
default_formatter_rules={"field_name_matches":"/pass(word)?/i", "formatters":["Str::remove_comment"], "note":"I often put comments after my password, e.g. 'foobar # last changed 2022-10-08'"}

and after this, when you select they will automatically be applied when selecting matching fields:

% orgadb-sel lisa phone

To disable formatters, use --no-formatters (-F).

OPTIONS

* marks required options.

Main options

--count

Return just the number of matching entries instead of showing them.

Color options

--color-theme-json=s

See --color-theme.

--color-theme=s
--color=s

Whether to use color.

Default value:

"auto"

Valid values:

["auto","always","never"]

Configuration options

--config-path=s

Set path to configuration file.

Can actually be specified multiple times to instruct application to read from multiple configuration files (and merge them).

Can be specified multiple times.

--config-profile=s, -P

Set configuration profile to use.

A single configuration file can contain profiles, i.e. alternative sets of values that can be selected. For example:

[profile=dev]
username=foo
pass=beaver

[profile=production]
username=bar
pass=honey

When you specify --config-profile=dev, username will be set to foo and password to beaver. When you specify --config-profile=production, username will be set to bar and password to honey.

--no-config

Do not use any configuration file.

If you specify --no-config, the application will not read any configuration file.

Display options

--default-formatter-rules-json=s

See --default-formatter-rules.

--default-formatter-rules=s

Specify conditional default formatters. This is for convenience and best specified in the configuration as opposed to on the command-line option. An example:

default_formatter_rules={"field_name_matches":"/phone|wa|whatsapp/i","formatters":[ ["Phone::format_phone_idn"] ]}
--detail, -l
--formatter=s@, -f

Add one or more formatters to display field value.

Specify one or more formatters to apply to the field value before displaying.

A formatter is name of Data::Sah::Filter::perl::* module, without the prefix. For example: Str::uc will convert the field value to uppercase. Another formatter, Str::remove_comment can remove comment.

A formatter can have arguments, which is specified using this format:

[FORMATTER_NAME, {ARG1NAME => ARG1VAL, ...}]

If formatter name begins with [ character, it will be parsed as JSON. Example:

['Str::remove_comment', {'style':'cpp'}]

Overrides --default_formatter_rule but overridden by the --no-formatters (--raw-field-values, -F) option.

Can be specified multiple times.

--formatters-json=s

Add one or more formatters to display field value (JSON-encoded).

See --formatter.

--hide-category, -C

Do not show category.

--hide-entry, -E

Do not show entry headline.

--hide-field-name, -N

Do not show field names, just show field values.

--no-formatters, --raw-field-values, -F

Do not apply any formatters to field value (overrides --formatter option).

Entry selection options

--entry=s

Find entry by string or regex search against its title.

Can also be specified as the 1st command-line argument.

--filter-entries-by-field=s@

Find entry by the fields or subfields it has.

The format of each entry_by_field is one of:

str
/re/
str = str2
str = /re2/
/re/ = str2
/re/ = /re2/

That is, it can search for a string (str) or regex (re) in the field name, and optionally also search for a string (str2) or regex (re2) in the field value.

Can be specified multiple times.

--filter-entries-by-fields-json=s

Find entry by the fields or subfields it has (JSON-encoded).

See --filter-entries-by-field.

Environment options

--no-env

Do not read environment for default options.

If you specify --no-env, the application wil not read any environment variable.

Field selection options

--field=s@

Find (sub)fields by string or regex search.

Can also be specified as the 2nd command-line argument and onwards.

Can be specified multiple times.

--fields-json=s

Find (sub)fields by string or regex search (JSON-encoded).

See --field.

Can also be specified as the 2nd command-line argument and onwards.

Filter options

--category=s, -c

Find entry by string or regex search against the category title.

Input options

--file=s@

Path to addressbook file.

Can be specified multiple times.

--files-json=s

Path to addressbook files (JSON-encoded).

See --file.

--no-reload-files-on-change

Logging options

--debug

Shortcut for --log-level=debug.

--log-level=s

Set log level.

By default, these log levels are available (in order of increasing level of importance, from least important to most): trace, debug, info, warn/warning, error, fatal. By default, the level is usually set to warn, which means that log statements with level info and less important levels will not be shown. To increase verbosity, choose info, debug, or trace.

For more details on log level and logging, as well as how new logging levels can be defined or existing ones modified, see Log::ger.

--quiet

Shortcut for --log-level=error.

--trace

Shortcut for --log-level=trace.

--verbose

Shortcut for --log-level=info.

Mode options

--shell, -s

Output options

--format=s

Choose output format, e.g. json, text.

Default value:

undef

Output can be displayed in multiple formats, and a suitable default format is chosen depending on the application and/or whether output destination is interactive terminal (i.e. whether output is piped). This option specifically chooses an output format.

--json

Set output format to json.

--naked-res

When outputing as JSON, strip result envelope.

Default value:

0

By default, when outputing as JSON, the full enveloped result is returned, e.g.:

[200,"OK",[1,2,3],{"func.extra"=>4}]

The reason is so you can get the status (1st element), status message (2nd element) as well as result metadata/extra result (4th element) instead of just the result (3rd element). However, sometimes you want just the result, e.g. when you want to pipe the result for more post-processing. In this case you can use --naked-res so you just get:

[1,2,3]
--page-result

Filter output through a pager.

This option will pipe the output to a specified pager program. If pager program is not specified, a suitable default e.g. less is chosen.

--view-result

View output using a viewer.

This option will first save the output to a temporary file, then open a viewer program to view the temporary file. If a viewer program is not chosen, a suitable default, e.g. the browser, is chosen.

Result options

--num-entries=s

Specify maximum number of entries to return (0 means unlimited).

--num-fields=s

Specify maximum number of fields (per entry) to return (0 means unlimited).

Other options

--help, -h, -?

Display help message and exit.

--version, -v

Display program's version and exit.

COMPLETION

This script has shell tab completion capability with support for several shells.

bash

To activate bash completion for this script, put:

complete -C orgadb-sel orgadb-sel

in your bash startup (e.g. ~/.bashrc). Your next shell session will then recognize tab completion for the command. Or, you can also directly execute the line above in your shell to activate immediately.

It is recommended, however, that you install modules using cpanm-shcompgen which can activate shell completion for scripts immediately.

tcsh

To activate tcsh completion for this script, put:

complete orgadb-sel 'p/*/`orgadb-sel`/'

in your tcsh startup (e.g. ~/.tcshrc). Your next shell session will then recognize tab completion for the command. Or, you can also directly execute the line above in your shell to activate immediately.

It is also recommended to install shcompgen (see above).

other shells

For fish and zsh, install shcompgen as described above.

FAQ

Why doesn't 'orgadb-sel' list all my entries? It returns nothing.

% orgadb-sel
% _

Probably because the addressbook is not written following the expected structure, where the entries should be as level-2 headings. You might use the level-1 heading:

* jimmy
- cell :: 555-123-4567
* john
* jack

or use deeper-than-level-2 heading:

* friends
** high school
*** jimmy
- cell :: 555-123-4567
*** john
*** jack

This is the correct structure:

* friends > high school
** jimmy
- cell :: 555-123-4567
** john
** jack

When queried:

% orgadb-sel
friends > high school/jimmy
friends > high school/john
friends > high school/jack

Why can't I search against entry fields? It returns nothing. (I can list entries.)

% orgadb-sel jimmy cell
% _

Probably because the addressbook is not written following the expected structure, where you should use a description list. A common mistake is writing a description list like this:

** jimmy
- cell: 555-123-4567

This is still an unordered list in Org, you have to use :: (space, followed by two colons, followed by another space) as the separator:

** jimmy
- cell :: 555-123-4567

CONFIGURATION FILE

This script can read configuration files. Configuration files are in the format of IOD, which is basically INI with some extra features.

By default, these names are searched for configuration filenames (can be changed using --config-path): /home/s1/.config/orgadb.conf, /home/s1/.config/orgadb-sel.conf, /home/s1/orgadb.conf, /home/s1/orgadb-sel.conf, /etc/orgadb.conf, or /etc/orgadb-sel.conf.

All found files will be read and merged.

To disable searching for configuration files, pass --no-config.

You can put multiple profiles in a single file by using section names like [profile=SOMENAME] or [SOMESECTION profile=SOMENAME]. Those sections will only be read if you specify the matching --config-profile SOMENAME.

You can also put configuration for multiple programs inside a single file, and use filter program=NAME in section names, e.g. [program=NAME ...] or [SOMESECTION program=NAME]. The section will then only be used when the reading program matches.

You can also filter a section by environment variable using the filter env=CONDITION in section names. For example if you only want a section to be read if a certain environment variable is true: [env=SOMEVAR ...] or [SOMESECTION env=SOMEVAR ...]. If you only want a section to be read when the value of an environment variable equals some string: [env=HOSTNAME=blink ...] or [SOMESECTION env=HOSTNAME=blink ...]. If you only want a section to be read when the value of an environment variable does not equal some string: [env=HOSTNAME!=blink ...] or [SOMESECTION env=HOSTNAME!=blink ...]. If you only want a section to be read when the value of an environment variable includes some string: [env=HOSTNAME*=server ...] or [SOMESECTION env=HOSTNAME*=server ...]. If you only want a section to be read when the value of an environment variable does not include some string: [env=HOSTNAME!*=server ...] or [SOMESECTION env=HOSTNAME!*=server ...]. Note that currently due to simplistic parsing, there must not be any whitespace in the value being compared because it marks the beginning of a new section filter or section name.

To load and configure plugins, you can use either the -plugins parameter (e.g. -plugins=DumpArgs or -plugins=DumpArgs@before_validate_args), or use the [plugin=NAME ...] sections, for example:

[plugin=DumpArgs]
-event=before_validate_args
-prio=99

[plugin=Foo]
-event=after_validate_args
arg1=val1
arg2=val2

which is equivalent to setting -plugins=-DumpArgs@before_validate_args@99,-Foo@after_validate_args,arg1,val1,arg2,val2.

List of available configuration parameters:

category (see --category)
color (see --color)
color_theme (see --color-theme)
count (see --count)
default_formatter_rules (see --default-formatter-rules)
detail (see --detail)
entry (see --entry)
fields (see --field)
files (see --file)
filter_entries_by_fields (see --filter-entries-by-field)
format (see --format)
formatters (see --formatter)
hide_category (see --hide-category)
hide_entry (see --hide-entry)
hide_field_name (see --hide-field-name)
log_level (see --log-level)
naked_res (see --naked-res)
no_formatters (see --no-formatters)
num_entries (see --num-entries)
num_fields (see --num-fields)
reload_files_on_change (see --no-reload-files-on-change)
shell (see --shell)

ENVIRONMENT

ORGADB_SEL_OPT

String. Specify additional command-line options.

ORGADB_COLOR_THEME

perl::colortheme::modname_with_optional_args. Set default color theme.

Color theme is Perl module name under the ColorTheme::Search:: namespace, without the namespace prefix. The default is Light. You can set color theme using the --color-theme command-line option as well as this environment variable.

FILES

/home/s1/.config/orgadb.conf

/home/s1/.config/orgadb-sel.conf

/home/s1/orgadb.conf

/home/s1/orgadb-sel.conf

/etc/orgadb.conf

/etc/orgadb-sel.conf

~/.orgadb_sel_history

Store shell's command history for orgadb-sel.

HOMEPAGE

Please visit the project's homepage at https://metacpan.org/release/App-orgadb.

SOURCE

Source repository is at https://github.com/perlancar/perl-App-orgadb.

SEE ALSO

orgsel (from App::orgsel) is a more generic selection tool for Org document.

Other CLI's in this distribution.

Information about the Org format: https://orgmode.org

AUTHOR

perlancar <perlancar@cpan.org>

CONTRIBUTING

To contribute, you can send patches by email/via RT, or send pull requests on GitHub.

Most of the time, you don't need to build the distribution yourself. You can simply modify the code, then test via:

% prove -l

If you want to build the distribution (e.g. to try to install it locally on your system), you can install Dist::Zilla, Dist::Zilla::PluginBundle::Author::PERLANCAR, Pod::Weaver::PluginBundle::Author::PERLANCAR, and sometimes one or two other Dist::Zilla- and/or Pod::Weaver plugins. Any additional steps required beyond that are considered a bug and can be reported to me.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

This software is copyright (c) 2022 by perlancar <perlancar@cpan.org>.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself.

BUGS

Please report any bugs or feature requests on the bugtracker website https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=App-orgadb

When submitting a bug or request, please include a test-file or a patch to an existing test-file that illustrates the bug or desired feature.