abookrc (5)

This manual page documents briefly the abookrc file.

abookrc is the (optional) configuration file for use with the abook(1) address book program.

abookrc is stored in a user's $HOME/.abook directory. It follows a format of “set option=value”. The following information lists each of these options and the values they may take.

If a variable is not set in abookrc , a sensible default, as listed with the description below, will be used.

Comments in abookrc are on lines beginning with '#'.

set option = value

field identifier = human_readable_name [ , type ]

Defines a new custom field. type can be one of 'string' (default) , 'emails', 'list', or 'date'.

view view name = field1 [ , field2, ... ]

Defines a view/tab, with fieldN being the identifier of a field declared with the field command, or the identifier of a standard field.

• Standard fields:

  name, email,

  address, address2, city, state, zip, country,

  phone, workphone, fax, mobile,

  nick, url, notes, anniversary

• Note: if you don't define any view, abook will use a default display based on the above standard fields.

autosave=[true|false]

Defines whether the addressbook is automatically saved on exit. Default is true.

preserve_fields=[all|standard|none]

Specifies how fields not declared with the field command nor in a view should be preserved while loading an abook database.

all

preserve any completely unknown field.

standard

only preserve the standard fields (see a list in the

  description of the view command) and the legacy
  'custom[1-5]' fields.

none

discards any unknown field.

• Default is standard.

index_format=format_string

Defines the way entries are displayed in the main list. This is a string containing field names enclosed between braces, with an optional width limit specified by a number (right alignment if negative) after the field name and a colon, and an arbitrary number of alternative fields (first with non empty content is to be displayed) separated by vertical bars. For instance:

{name:22}

displays the name field with a maximal width of 22 characters.

{phone:-13|workphone|mobile}

displays (right aligned within a width of 13 characters), either the phone, workphone or mobile field, whichever being the first to be non-empty.

• Default is " {name:22} {email:40} {phone:12|workphone|mobile}"

show_all_emails=[true|false]

Defines whether all email addresses for a contact are shown in the main list view. Default is true.

emailpos

extra_column

extra_alternative

extrapos

Obsoleted by index_format.

mutt_return_all_emails=[true|false]

Defines whether to return all email addresses matching the search criteria to a mutt query. Default is true.

print_command=command

Defines the command to used when printing the addressbook. Default is "lpr".

www_command=command

Defines the command used to start the web browser to view a contact's URL. Default is "lynx".

address_style=[eu|uk|us]

Defines the style of address formatting to be used when exporting as text / printing the database (European, UK, or USA). Default is European ("eu").

use_ascii_only=[true|false]

This option allows you to force Abook use only ASCII characters. This option is useful if your terminal doesn't support non-ASCII characters. Default is false.

add_email_prevent_duplicates=[true|false]

Defines whether to avoid adding addresses already in data. Default is false.

sort_field=field

Defines the field to be used by the "sort by field" command. Default is "nick" (Nickname/Alias).

show_cursor=[true|false]

Defines if the cursor is visible in main display. Default is false.

# sample abook configuration file
#

# Declare a few custom fields
field pager = Pager
field address_lines = Address, list
field birthday = Birthday, date

# Define how fields should be displayed in tabs
view CONTACT = name, email
view ADDRESS = address_lines, city, state, zip, country
view PHONE = phone, workphone, pager, mobile, fax
view OTHER = url, birthday


# Preserve any unknown field while loading an abook database
set preserve_fields=all

# Automatically save database on exit
set autosave=true

# Format of entries lines in list
set index_format=" {name:22} {email:40} {phone:12|workphone|mobile}"

# Show all email addresses in list
set show_all_emails=true

# Command used to start mutt
set mutt_command=mutt

# Return all email addresses to a mutt query
set mutt_return_all_emails=true

# Command used to print
set print_command=lpr

# Command used to start the web browser
set www_command=lynx

# Address style [eu|us|uk]
set address_style=eu

# Use ASCII characters only
set use_ascii_only=false

# Prevent double entry
set add_email_prevent_duplicates=false

# Field to be used with "sort by field" command
set sort_field=nick

# Show cursor in main display
set show_cursor=false

abook(1).

This manual page was written by Alan Ford <[email protected]> and expanded by Cedric Duval <[email protected]>.

abook was written by Jaakko Heinonen <[email protected]>