Nristen's (g)log
2021-11-29
update 2021-11-30: I was contacted by someone running abook version 0.5.x who was not able to apply some of the configuration options listed below.I have also found it frustrating when steps listed in posts did not work and I wondered if it might be due to version differences. Because of this I will attempt to remember to always preface each technical post with the versions used.
abook version 0.6.1
I have always liked the idea of using the addressbook, abook.
It is simple, has a CLI/TUI interface and stores data in a human readable format. It can also import and export into many addressbook formats.
It seemed to me however rather limited since I could not find fields for info such as an XMPP JID or Gemini link, etc.
Recently, however, as I was looking at the abook man page and found the abook configuration file referenced and when I viewed its man page:
man abookrc
I found out how to add the custom fields that I had been wanting.
Here is an example of my latest abookrc:
set use_colors=true set add_email_prevent_duplicates=true set preserve_fields=all set autosave=true set address_style=us set color_header_bg=cyan set color_header_fg=black field xmpp = XMPP, list field scuttlebutt = Scuttlebutt, list field retroshare = Retroshare, list field gemini = Gemini, list field birthday = Birthday, date field gopher = Gopher, list view CONTACT = name, email, xmpp, scuttlebutt, retroshare view ADDRESS = address, address2, city, state, zip, country, view PHONE = phone, workphone, fax, mobile, view LINKS = url, gemini, gopher view OTHER = nick, birthday, anniversary, notes, groups
Naturally, the field lines define the custom fields and the view lines show which "tab" each field should fall under.
Since this find, I have been using abook for all of my personal contacts and have been using Syncthing to sync the address book between all of my devices so any addressbook changes or additions are automatically updated on all of my devices.
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