mrolo(L)mrolo(L)NAMEmrolo - Motif-based card file manager
SYNOPSISmrolo [ X11-options ] [ -vhs ] [ -f filename ]
DESCRIPTION
MRolo is a program for maintaining a simple card-file, specifically
oriented for saving address-book information.
The default database file read is $HOME/.rolo, although this can be
overridden with the ROLODEX environment variable or the -f command-line
argument. If the file does not exist, it is created empty. The data‐
base is stored in a format similar to that of the xrolo program:
Blocks of text separated by lines containing just a ctrl-L. In addi‐
tion, MRolo assumes that the first line in a block is the primary name,
the second line is the primary number, the third line is a secondary
number, and the rest is for other names, numbers, and comments. (You
don't need to understand the file format to use MRolo.)
When invoked MRolo will present the user with a screen summarizing the
database. The user may scroll through the summary with the scroll-bar,
or they may click on one of the large letters along the left edge of
the window and jump right to that part of the database. Selecting an
individual summary entry will display a window containing the full
information of that entry, ready for editing or viewing.
On the main MRolo screen there are three buttons and a text field. The
three buttons are as follows:
Quit
Exit the MRolo program immediately.
Add Card
Display a blank detail window, into which new card information may be
entered.
Clear Filter
Clear the selection filter, as described in the next paragraph.
Typing some text in the text field and pressing return will limit the
summary display to only those cards which contain that text somewhere
in their entry (the entire entry, not just the summary). All of the
cards are still in the database, they just aren't all accessible. To
see all of the cards again, delete all the text from the text field and
press return or just press the Clear Filter button. Usually, this text
is matched as simple, case-insensitive text, but if the first letter in
the filter text is a back-slash then the rest of the text is inter‐
preted as a regular expression.
Any time you change a card, add a new card, or delete a card (by press‐
ing "Delete Card" on the detail screen), you will be asked before the
data is written to the disk. You never have to explicitly save the
database, it is done by validating the individual changes. Likewise
the screen always reflects the current contents of the database, except
when a filter has been applied thus hiding some of the database from
view.
There are companion programs included in this package but documented
separately. They are:
crolo curses-based card file database manager
prolo prints card file databases in postscript
xr2mr converts xrolodex files to crolo format
OPTIONS-v Display the version number and show error messages.
-s Include a field selection menu, to allow restriction of filter
searches to certain fields.
-f filename
Run using the specified file as the default database.
ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
If you start a line in the comment section of your card entry with the
phrase "as of:" (note that the space and the colon are important) then
mrolo will put the current date in the format of ctime(3) after the
colon whenever the field is changed. This keeps track of how current
the card is.
If you like using mrolo then there are some "advanced" techniques you
might want to know about. These tricks allow you to get more power and
flexibility out of the simple mrolo interface.
Remember that everything is optional and the program doesn't care what
is where. You can put text in the slots traditionally used for phone
numbers, so if there is no secondary number some additional descriptive
text can go there.
While the program was developed for an address book, exploit it for
whatever you need, for example record or video collection databases
would work well.
You can simulate having several address books by including codes in the
comment section of the cards. For example, I use the code "~p" for
personal entries, and "~w" for work related entries. If I want to see
just work entries I can enter "~w" in the filter. Note that cards can
appear in multiple lists by including all applicable codes: for exam‐
ple, Karen's entry has a "~p~w" code since she is my friend and I work
with her.
People who use mrolo a lot will want to know about prolo, which is used
for printing card file databases. Once you know how this program works
(see the manpage for prolo) you can optimize your entries to look bet‐
ter on paper.
XDEFAULTS
There are a number of values you may wish to tweek in your X-Defaults.
Look at the app defaults file for a more complete list than is given
here.
mrolo*showSecondary
If set to True (the default) the main screen will show both pri‐
mary and secondary numbers, if False only the primary number
will be shown. This does not affect the card screen or the file
format.
mrolo*sizePrimary
If showSecondary is True then this resource defines how wide the
column containing the primary number is. The default is 20
characters.
mrolo*fontList
The default font for everything in mrolo.
mrolo*addressList*fontList
Font used in address list on main screen. This should be a
fixed width font if you want the columns to line up.
mrolo*commentText.rows and mrolo*commentText.cols
The default size of the card text area. You can scroll beyond
this size or resize the window, but you might want to change
this if you have a lot of extremely large cards.
mrolo*filterText.columns
This is the size of the text field on the main screen.
mrolo*{various}.foreground and mrolo*{various}.background
Change the colors to suit your tastes; some good values for
{various} are: nothing (default colors for application), XmPush‐
Button (all buttons), XmText (all text fields), addressList
(summary screen).
mrolo*XmRowColumn*packing
If you like your buttons only as big as the text they hold, try
XmPACK_TIGHT here. If you do that, you will want to do the fol‐
lowing also...
mrolo*rowColumn*resizeWidth and mrolo*rowColumn*width
Explicitly set the width of the main screen, it usually defaults
to size based on the buttons and input field on the main screen.
mrolo*selectFilter
When set to True, is the same as using the -s option. False is
the default.
mrolo*indexElements
This string is a white-space delimited list of elements to be
made into index tabs. The default is:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
This can modified to break up dense groups of entries or to provide
indexes for non-english letters.
FILES
~/.rolo Default database.
ENVIRONMENT
ROLODEX Default database, overrides ~/.rolo, but not the -f
option.
SEE ALSOxr2mr(1), prolo(1), crolo(1)BUGS
None known. Report bugs to gregor@kafka.saic.com
AUTHOR
gregg hanna (gregor@kafka.saic.com)
Science Applications International Corporation
10260 Campus Point Drive, MS C3
San Diego, California 92121
Copyright 1993 by gregg hanna. Permission is granted to use, modify,
and distribute this program. Basically do anything you want with it,
but if you want to use it or any part of it to make money you must get
further permission from me.
19 April 1993 mrolo(L)