Merge branch 'doc' into master
Signed-off-by: Matthias Beyer <mail@beyermatthias.de>
This commit is contained in:
commit
b25bf80c95
10 changed files with 139 additions and 148 deletions
|
@ -3,84 +3,11 @@
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||||||
This document is the user documentation for imag, the personal
|
This document is the user documentation for imag, the personal
|
||||||
information management suite for the commandline.
|
information management suite for the commandline.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
**Basically: This is Hobby stuff. Expect incompleteness, false statements and
|
**Basically: This is Hobby stuff. Expect incompleteness, outdated documentation,
|
||||||
generally read with grain of salt.**
|
false statements and generally read with grain of salt.**
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
If you have any objections, suggestions for improvements, bugs, etc, please file
|
If you have any objections, suggestions for improvements, bugs, etc, please file
|
||||||
them (See [@sec:contributing]).
|
them (See [@sec:contributing]).
|
||||||
A way to reach out to the imag project maintainer(s) is described in the
|
A way to reach out to the imag project maintainer(s) is described in the
|
||||||
[@sec:contributing] section.
|
[@sec:contributing] section.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## The Problem {#sec:intro:problem}
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The problem this project tries to solve is to provide a modular commandline
|
|
||||||
application for personal information management.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
It targets "power users" or "commandline users", uses plain text as a storage
|
|
||||||
format and tries to be as scriptable as possible.
|
|
||||||
imag offers the ability to link data from different "PIM aspects" (such as
|
|
||||||
"diary", "contacts" and "bookmark" for example).
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
One major goal of imag is to make the PIM data traverseable and queryable.
|
|
||||||
For example: a wiki article can be linked to an appointment which is linked to a
|
|
||||||
todo which is linked to a note which is linked to a contact.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
imag wants to offer an all-in-one scriptable modular commandline personal
|
|
||||||
information management suite for all PIM aspects one could possibly think of.
|
|
||||||
Because imag uses plain text (TOML headers for structured data and plain text
|
|
||||||
which can be rendered using markdown, for example, for continuous text)
|
|
||||||
the user is always able to access their data without the imag tools at hand.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## The Approach {#sec:intro:approach}
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The approach "imag" takes on solving this problem is to store content in a
|
|
||||||
"store" and persisting content in a unified way.
|
|
||||||
Meta-information is attached to the content which can be used to store
|
|
||||||
structured data.
|
|
||||||
This can be used to implement a variety of "domain modules" using the store.
|
|
||||||
While content is stored in _one_ place, imag does not duplicate content.
|
|
||||||
imag does not copy or move icalendar files, emails, vcard files, music or
|
|
||||||
movies to the store, but tries to remember the actual files are and stores
|
|
||||||
meta-information about them in the store.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Detailed explanation on this approach follows in the chapters of this work.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Implementation {#sec:intro:implementation}
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The program is written in the Rust programming language.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The program consists of libraries which can be re-used by other projects
|
|
||||||
to implement and adapt imag functionality. An external program may use a
|
|
||||||
library of the imag distribution to store content in the store of imag and
|
|
||||||
make it visible to imag this way.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
This is a technical detail a user does not necessarily need to know, but as imag
|
|
||||||
is intended for power-users anyways, we would say it fits here.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Alternative Projects {#sec:intro:alternatives}
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
imag is not the only project which tries to solve that particular problem. For
|
|
||||||
example there is
|
|
||||||
[org mode](https://orgmode.org)
|
|
||||||
for the [emacs](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) text editor.
|
|
||||||
There is also [zim](http://zim-wiki.org/), a desktop wiki editor which is
|
|
||||||
intended to be used for a personal wiki.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The difference between imag and the mentioned projects is:
|
|
||||||
* emacs orgmode is (from what I know and see) for _orgabizing_ things. imag is
|
|
||||||
intended not only for organizing, but also for recording, tracking and
|
|
||||||
querying.
|
|
||||||
* zim is a wiki, which could be used for PIM but is not specialized for it.
|
|
||||||
Recording habits might be possible, but not that simple as with imag
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
imag is not there
|
|
||||||
yet, though. Some parts can be used, though it is far away from being feature-complete.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
In addition: imag is text-editor independent and other tools than imag might be
|
|
||||||
used to access data stored in the imag store.
|
|
||||||
For example, one could "grep", "awk" and "sed" entries without much hassle and
|
|
||||||
even write bash scripts for automatically filling imag entries with data.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
21
doc/src/01001-intro-problem.md
Normal file
21
doc/src/01001-intro-problem.md
Normal file
|
@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
|
||||||
|
## The Problem {#sec:intro:problem}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The problem this project tries to solve is to provide a modular commandline
|
||||||
|
application for personal information management.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
It targets "power users" or "commandline users", uses plain text as a storage
|
||||||
|
format and tries to be as scriptable as possible.
|
||||||
|
imag offers the ability to link data from different "PIM aspects" (such as
|
||||||
|
"diary", "contacts" and "bookmark" for example).
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
One major goal of imag is to make the PIM data traverseable and queryable.
|
||||||
|
For example: a wiki article can be linked to an appointment which is linked to a
|
||||||
|
todo which is linked to a note which is linked to a contact.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
imag wants to offer an all-in-one scriptable modular commandline personal
|
||||||
|
information management suite for all PIM aspects one could possibly think of.
|
||||||
|
Because imag uses plain text (TOML headers for structured data and plain text
|
||||||
|
which can be rendered using markdown, for example, for continuous text)
|
||||||
|
the user is always able to access their data without the imag tools at hand.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
15
doc/src/01002-intro-approach.md
Normal file
15
doc/src/01002-intro-approach.md
Normal file
|
@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
|
||||||
|
## The Approach {#sec:intro:approach}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The approach "imag" takes on solving this problem is to store content in a
|
||||||
|
"store" and persisting content in a unified way.
|
||||||
|
Meta-information is attached to the content which can be used to store
|
||||||
|
structured data.
|
||||||
|
This can be used to implement a variety of "domain modules" using the store.
|
||||||
|
While content is stored in _one_ place, imag does not duplicate content.
|
||||||
|
imag does not copy or move icalendar files, emails, vcard files, music or
|
||||||
|
movies to the store, but tries to remember the actual files are and stores
|
||||||
|
meta-information about them in the store.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Detailed explanation on this approach follows in the chapters of this work.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
13
doc/src/01003-intro-implementation.md
Normal file
13
doc/src/01003-intro-implementation.md
Normal file
|
@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
|
||||||
|
## Implementation {#sec:intro:implementation}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The program is written in the Rust programming language.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The program consists of libraries which can be re-used by other projects
|
||||||
|
to implement and adapt imag functionality. An external program may use a
|
||||||
|
library of the imag distribution to store content in the store of imag and
|
||||||
|
make it visible to imag this way.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
This is a technical detail a user does not necessarily need to know, but as imag
|
||||||
|
is intended for power-users anyways, we would say it fits here.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
26
doc/src/01004-intro-alternatives.md
Normal file
26
doc/src/01004-intro-alternatives.md
Normal file
|
@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
|
||||||
|
## Alternative Projects {#sec:intro:alternatives}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
imag is not the only project which tries to solve that particular problem. For
|
||||||
|
example there is
|
||||||
|
[org mode](https://orgmode.org)
|
||||||
|
for the [emacs](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) text editor.
|
||||||
|
There is also [zim](http://zim-wiki.org/), a desktop wiki editor which is
|
||||||
|
intended to be used for a personal wiki.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The difference between imag and the mentioned projects is:
|
||||||
|
* emacs orgmode is (from what I know and see) for _orgabizing_ things. imag is
|
||||||
|
intended not only for organizing, but also for recording, tracking and
|
||||||
|
querying.
|
||||||
|
* zim is a wiki, which could be used for PIM but is not specialized for it.
|
||||||
|
Recording habits might be possible, but not that simple as with imag
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
imag is not there
|
||||||
|
yet, though. Some parts can be used, though it is far away from being feature-complete.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
In addition: imag is text-editor independent and other tools than imag might be
|
||||||
|
used to access data stored in the imag store.
|
||||||
|
For example, one could "grep", "awk" and "sed" entries without much hassle and
|
||||||
|
even write bash scripts for automatically filling imag entries with data.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
@ -4,47 +4,48 @@ The imag codebase has a rather simple overall architecture.
|
||||||
In this chapter the types of crates, architecture of an imag module
|
In this chapter the types of crates, architecture of an imag module
|
||||||
and the type structure are described.
|
and the type structure are described.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Crate types
|
## Crate types
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
There are different types of crates in the imag world. A crate is a rust
|
There are different types of crates in the imag world:
|
||||||
project.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
First of all, there are core crates. These crates provide the very core of imag
|
|
||||||
and almost all other crates use them:
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
* "core" crates:
|
||||||
* libimagstore - The imag store is the abstraction over the filesystem. It
|
* libimagstore - The imag store is the abstraction over the filesystem. It
|
||||||
provides primitives to get, write and manipulate store entries and their
|
provides primitives to get, write and manipulate store entries and their
|
||||||
header information.
|
header information.
|
||||||
* libimagrt - The runtime library, which provides functionality to create a
|
* libimagrt - The runtime library, which provides default argument parser
|
||||||
store object from libimagstore, helps with configurarion loading and
|
setup, interfacing with STDIN/STDOUT, configuration loading and parsing.
|
||||||
commandline argument handling (through the external "clap" crate).
|
Simply put: It provides the runtime for a imag commandline application.
|
||||||
* libimagerror - Error handling library for handling errors the imag way. Used
|
* libimagerror - Error handling library for handling errors the imag way. Used
|
||||||
in all other crates, even the store itself. It also offers functionality to
|
in all other crates, even the store itself. It also offers functionality to
|
||||||
log and trace errors as well as exiting the application, if necessary.
|
log and trace errors as well as exiting the application, if necessary.
|
||||||
* libimagutil - Utilities.
|
(Note: This library might be removed in the future.)
|
||||||
|
* "entry" crates:
|
||||||
The next type of imag crates are entry extension libraries. Those provide
|
"Entry" crates provide extensional functionality for the types from
|
||||||
extensional functionality for the types from libimagstore. For example, there is
|
libimagstore. For example, there is "libimagentrylink" which provides
|
||||||
"libimagentrylink" which provides functionality to link two entries in the
|
functionality to link two entries in the store.
|
||||||
store.
|
* "domain" crates offer end-user functionality for a imag
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The third kind of crate is the one that offers end-user functionality for a imag
|
|
||||||
domain, for example "libimagtodo" provides functionality to track todos.
|
domain, for example "libimagtodo" provides functionality to track todos.
|
||||||
|
* "etc"/"util" crates for simple utilities.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
And last, but not least, the commandline frontend crates provide the user
|
These are all libraries. There are also binary crates in the imag project
|
||||||
interface. These are the kind of crates that are not library crates, but
|
(though they are technically _also_ library crates):
|
||||||
binaries.
|
|
||||||
|
* "core" binary crates, which implement core functionality of imag, such as
|
||||||
|
commandline interfaces for tagging, linking, ... entries as well as querying
|
||||||
|
them from the store and altering their data.
|
||||||
|
* "domain" binary crates, which implement a domain such as "todo" handling or
|
||||||
|
"calendar" handling.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Besides these, there are some other utility crates.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Architecture of an imag module
|
## Architecture of an imag module
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
With the things from above, a module could have the following architecture:
|
With the things from above, a module could have the following architecture:
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
```
|
```
|
||||||
+---------------------------------------------+
|
|
||||||
| imag-foo |
|
|
||||||
+-----------------------------------+---------+
|
+-----------------------------------+---------+
|
||||||
|
| imag-foo | |
|
||||||
|
+-----------------------------------+ |
|
||||||
| libimagfoo | |
|
| libimagfoo | |
|
||||||
+-----------------+-----------------+ |
|
+-----------------+-----------------+ |
|
||||||
| | | |
|
| | | |
|
||||||
|
@ -52,35 +53,35 @@ With the things from above, a module could have the following architecture:
|
||||||
| | | lib |
|
| | | lib |
|
||||||
+-----------------+-----------------+ |
|
+-----------------+-----------------+ |
|
||||||
| | |
|
| | |
|
||||||
| ... | |
|
| <more library crates> | |
|
||||||
| | imag |
|
| | imag |
|
||||||
+-----------------------------------+ |
|
+-----------------------------------+ |
|
||||||
| | |
|
| | |
|
||||||
| libimagrt | |
|
| libimagstore | rt |
|
||||||
| | error |
|
|
||||||
+-----------------------------------+ |
|
|
||||||
| | |
|
|
||||||
| libimagstore | |
|
|
||||||
| | |
|
| | |
|
||||||
+-----------------------------------+---------+
|
+-----------------------------------+---------+
|
||||||
```
|
```
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
External dependencies are not listed in this graphic.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The foundation of all imag modules is the store, as one can see in the
|
The foundation of all imag modules is the store, as one can see in the
|
||||||
visualization from above.
|
visualization from above.
|
||||||
Above the store library there is the libimagrt, which provides the basic runtime
|
Above the store level, entry libraries and domain libraries are used to
|
||||||
and access to the `Store` object.
|
implement functionality.
|
||||||
Cross-cutting, there is the error library (and possibly
|
The highest level of all imag modules is the commandline interface
|
||||||
the util library, but we do not care about this one here), which is used through
|
|
||||||
all levels. The highest level of all imag modules is the commandline interface
|
|
||||||
on top of the domain library. In between can be any number of entry extension
|
on top of the domain library. In between can be any number of entry extension
|
||||||
libraries, or none if not needed.
|
libraries, or none if not needed.
|
||||||
|
libimagrt is used by the binary to construct the runtime, which itself
|
||||||
|
constructs and initializes the Store, so this library is used in the full stack
|
||||||
|
more or less.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Theoretically, the commandline interface crate could be replaced to build a
|
Theoretically, the commandline interface crate could be replaced to build a
|
||||||
terminal user interface, graphical user interface or web interface.
|
terminal user interface, graphical user interface or web interface.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
## Types
|
## Types
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The imag core, hence the libimagstore, libimagrt and libimagerror, provide a set
|
The imag core, hence the libimagstore and libimagrt, provide a set
|
||||||
of types that a user (as in a library writer) should be aware of.
|
of types that a user (as in a library writer) should be aware of.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
First of all, there is the `Runtime` type which is provided by the libimagrt. It
|
First of all, there is the `Runtime` type which is provided by the libimagrt. It
|
||||||
|
@ -103,10 +104,6 @@ not on the `FileLockEntry`.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The `Entry` provides access to its header, which is a `toml::Value`, where toml
|
The `Entry` provides access to its header, which is a `toml::Value`, where toml
|
||||||
is the toml-rs crate (external project). Convenience functionality is provided
|
is the toml-rs crate (external project). Convenience functionality is provided
|
||||||
via the `toml-query` crate, which is an external project which was initiated and
|
via the `toml-query` crate, an external project which was initiated and
|
||||||
extracted from the imag project.
|
extracted from the imag project.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Error types are also important.
|
|
||||||
All errors in imag projects should be created with `error-chain`.
|
|
||||||
libimagerror provides functionality to enhance the experience with `Result`
|
|
||||||
types and general tracing of errors.
|
|
||||||
|
|
|
@ -42,33 +42,34 @@ The following section describe their purpose.
|
||||||
The header format is where imag stores its data. The header is an area at the
|
The header format is where imag stores its data. The header is an area at the
|
||||||
top of every file which is seperated from the content part by three dashes
|
top of every file which is seperated from the content part by three dashes
|
||||||
(`---`). Between these three dashes there is structured data. imag uses `TOML`
|
(`---`). Between these three dashes there is structured data. imag uses `TOML`
|
||||||
as data format for this structured data, because it fits best and the available
|
as data format for this structured data.
|
||||||
`TOML` parser for the rust programming language is really good.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The header can contain any amount of data, but modules (see @sec:modules) are
|
The header can contain any amount of data, but modules (see @sec:modules) are
|
||||||
restricted in their way of altering the data.
|
restricted (by convention) in their way of altering the data.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
So normally there are several sections in the header. One section (`[imag]`) is
|
Normally there are several sections in the header. One section (`[imag]`) is
|
||||||
always present. It contains a `version` field, which tells imag which version
|
always present, it is automatically created by the store and contains a
|
||||||
this file was created with.
|
`version` field, which tells imag which version this file was created with.
|
||||||
|
The store automatically verifies that it is compatible (satisfying semver) with
|
||||||
|
the version of imag an entry was created with, and if it is not, it fails
|
||||||
|
loading the entry.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Other sections are named like the modules which created them. Every module is
|
Other sections are named like the modules which created them. Every module is
|
||||||
allowed to store arbitrary data under its own section and a module may never
|
allowed to store arbitrary data under its own section and a module may never
|
||||||
read other sections than its own.
|
read or write other sections than its own.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
These conventions are not enforced by imag itself, though.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### Content Format {#sec:thestore:fileformat:content}
|
### Content Format {#sec:thestore:fileformat:content}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The content is the part of the file where the user is free to enter any textual
|
The content is the part of the file where the user is free to enter any textual
|
||||||
content. The content may be rendered as Markdown or other markup format for the
|
content. The content may be rendered as Markdown or other markup format for the
|
||||||
users convenience. The store does never expect and specific markup and actually
|
users convenience. The store does never expect any specific markup.
|
||||||
the markup implementation is not inside the very core of imag.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Technically it would be possible that the content part of a file is used to
|
Technically it would be possible that the content part of a file is used to
|
||||||
store binary data.
|
store binary data.
|
||||||
We don't want this, though, as it is contrary to the goals of imag.
|
We don't want this, though, as it is contrary to the goals of imag.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
### Example {#sec:thestore:fileformat:example}
|
### Example {#sec:thestore:fileformat:example}
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
An example for a file in the store follows.
|
An example for a file in the store follows.
|
||||||
|
@ -96,15 +97,13 @@ The "Entries" are stored as files in the "Store", which is a directory the
|
||||||
user has access to. The store may exist in the users Home-directory or any
|
user has access to. The store may exist in the users Home-directory or any
|
||||||
other directory the user has read-write-access to.
|
other directory the user has read-write-access to.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
Each module stores its data in an own subdirectory in the store. This is because
|
Each module stores its data in an own subdirectory in the store, by convention.
|
||||||
we like to keep things ordered and clean, not because it is technically
|
|
||||||
necessary.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
We name the path to a file in the store "Store id" or "Storepath" and we often
|
The path to a file in the store is named "Store id" (or short "ID") and we
|
||||||
refer to it by using the store location as root.
|
refer to it by using the store location as root.
|
||||||
So if the store exists in `/home/user/store/`, a file with the storepath
|
So if the store exists in `/home/user/.imag/store/`, a file with the storepath
|
||||||
`example.file` is (on the filesystem) located at
|
`example.file` is (on the filesystem) located at
|
||||||
`/home/user/store/example.file`.
|
`/home/user/.imag/store/example.file`.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
By convention, each `libimagentry<name>` and `libimag<name>` module stores its
|
By convention, each `libimagentry<name>` and `libimag<name>` module stores its
|
||||||
entries in in `<name>/`.
|
entries in in `<name>/`.
|
||||||
|
|
|
@ -2,13 +2,6 @@
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
This section contains the changelog.
|
This section contains the changelog.
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
We try to include a changelog line in each pull request, to make sure the
|
|
||||||
changelog is up to date when releasing a new version of the codebase.
|
|
||||||
Make sure to append the new change to the list, do not prepend it.
|
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
The "Major" section of each section includes huge changes in functionality and
|
|
||||||
interfaces (but not necessarily user-facing ones), whereas the "Minor" section
|
|
||||||
contains only small stuff.
|
|
||||||
Some things, like typo fixes, version string updates and such are not stated in
|
Some things, like typo fixes, version string updates and such are not stated in
|
||||||
the changelog (though updating of dependencies is).
|
the changelog (though updating of dependencies is).
|
||||||
Please note that we do not have a "Breaking changes" section as we are in
|
Please note that we do not have a "Breaking changes" section as we are in
|
||||||
|
|
Loading…
Reference in a new issue