ABOOKRC(5)

NAME
$HOME/.abook/abookrc - configuration file for abook address book program

DESCRIPTION
abookrc is the (optional) configuration file for use with the abook(1) address book program. abookrc is stored in a user's $HOME/.abook or XDG_DATA_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 '#'.

COMMANDS

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.

VARIABLES

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:-12|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.

use_mouse=[true|false]
    Defines if navigation via the mouse is activated. Default is false. Most terminals can also inhibit ncurses mouse events at runtime by holding the Shift key (restoring mouse-selection behavior).

scroll_speed=lines
    Defines the number of lines the address list is scrolled by on a mouse wheel action. This option only takes effect if use_mouse is enabled. Default is 2.

use_colors=[true|false]
    Defines if the output of abook is colorized. Default is false.

Color settings:
    color_header_fg=color Foreground color for header bar color_header_bg=color Background color for header bar color_footer_fg=color Foreground color for footer bar color_footer_bg=color Background color for footer bar color_list_even_fg=color Foreground color for normal list entries with even index in the list (starting with index 0) color_list_even_bg=color Background color for normal list entries with even index in the list (starting with index 0) color_list_odd_fg=color Foreground color for normal list entries with odd index in the list (starting with index 0) color_list_odd_bg=color Background color for normal list entries with odd index in the list (starting with index 0) color_list_header_fg=color Foreground color for the list header color_list_header_bg=color Background color for the list header color_list_highlight_fg=color Foreground color for highlighted list entries color_list_highlight_bg=color Background color for highlighted list entries color_tab_border_fg=color Foreground color for tab borders on details page color_tab_border_bg=color Background color for tab borders on details page color_tab_label_fg=color Foreground color for tab labes on details page color_tab_label_bg=color Background color for tab labes on details page color_field_name_fg=color Foreground color for field names on details page color_field_name_bg=color Background color for field names on details page color_field_value_fg=color Foreground color for field values on details page color_field_value_bg=color Background color for field values on details page Where color can be: default, black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, white

SAMPLE CONFIGURATION FILE
# 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

SEE ALSO
abook(1).

AUTHORS
This manual page was written by Alan Ford <alan@whirlnet.co.uk> and expanded by Cedric Duval <cedricduval@free.fr>.
abook was written by Jaakko Heinonen <jheinonen@users.sourceforge.net>