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PSI 1.0/10-25-1989 Personal System for Information Management and Retrieval ⌐ 1989 Markus P.J. Fromherz p-mail: Institut fƒr Informatik der Universitèt Zƒrich Winterthurerstr. 190 CH-8057 Zƒrich e-mail: fromherz@ifi.unizh.ch This application has been written entirely in Prolog, using LPA MacProlog¬ 2.5, a formidable product from Logic Programming Associates Ltd., London, England. The development and runtime software are copyright of LPA. My special thanks go to Christoph, Heike, Norbert, Stella and Tony, who help me beta-testing this application. This text has been formatted for display in a non- proportional font like Monaco or Courier. DISTRIBUTION POLICY Please feel free to copy PSI and give it to other Macintosh users for their evaluation. Always include this document. I retain all rights to this software and its documentation, which may not be sold, either separately or as part of another product, without my written approval. This notice may not be altered or removed. ! PSI is free for personal use. If you decide to use PSI, please send me a post card of your home town. This way, you may even get a free update (only by e-mail or if you pay the transportation, i.e. disk and stamps). ! If you intend to use PSI for commercial business or just want to become a registered user, with the advantage of getting updates and the right to ask for additional functionality, send whatever you think you should pay (the equivalent of about sFr. 20 or $20), just to make sure I don╒t pay the price for the additional effort (time, postage etc.). PSI is not free for commercial use! Don╒t forget the post card! OVERVIEW PSI helps with the management and retrieval of information, which may be bibliographic references, addresses, software, CD references etc. Information is saved in records, in the following called cards, which are described (defined or grouped) by schemata; a simple card description language allows to define fields and layout. A file of information might thus be compared to a register. Descriptors help to annotate the cards and, above all, to quickly retrieve the information. The information of the cards may be exported (listed or printed) in any format; a simple export description language allows to define arbitrary print procedures. Information may also be imported from data bases (fixed format) or files where the information is ordered by keywords (like Refer); a simple import description language allows to define arbitrary read procedures. PSI is intended to be an application for your personal data. It does not claim to be a full-fledged data-base system. Instead, it should be easy to set up and to use PSI. It is comparably small, versatile and useful for a broad range of data. The search by descriptors makes retrieval fast and handy, and the export and import capabilities are quite powerful. ! The following help information is mainly structured by functions and their menus and buttons. Introductions and sample sessions help experience the functionality. If you use PSI for the first time, it may be a good idea to load this text in PSI (or start PSI by double-clicking on this file) and try the sample sessions while reading this text. Wherever you are, you may select ╥Texts:Help╙ to get information about what you are currently doing. The help facility is sensitive mainly to the active window. SAMPLE FIRST SESSION 1 Create a new file and define a new schema: a Define a new file with ╥File:New ╔╙. b Select ╥Schema:Schema╙ and a dialogue window ╥Schema╙ appears; enter ╥Address╙, the name for your first schema, in the field ╥Name╙, position the cursor to the field ╥Fields╙ and enter Name, 3, Title, 1, "Home:", 3, Street, 3, ZIP Code, 1, City, 2 Press the button ╥Add╙ to define the schema. You now defined a schema ╥Address╙ with the fields ╥Name╙, ╥Title╙, ╥Street╙, ╥ZIP Code╙, and ╥City╙, and with the additional text ╥Home:╙. c Press the button ╥Close╙ to close the window ╥Schema╙. 2 Add and find cards of your schema: a Select ╥Schema:Address╙ to open the dialogue window for your schema ╥Address╙. b Enter a sample address in the fields of the window and press the button ╥Add╙. You now defined a new card for the schema ╥Address╙. c Add more cards to ╥Address╙ by repeating the last step. d Check if all fields of the window are empty (press ╥Clear╙ if not) and press ╥Find╙. If you have entered several cards, a menu window offers all names of the address you defined; if only one card exists, it is displayed immediately. e If several cards where found, you may browse through these with the ╥<<╙ and ╥>>╙ buttons. 3 Define descriptors: a Select ╥Schema:Descriptors╙ to open the descriptor-handling window. Enter descriptors (like ╥relative╙, ╥friend╙, ╥business partner╙), pressing ╥Add╙ or the Return key after each term. b Press ╥Show╙ to see your descriptors (and ╥Okay╙ when you╒ve seen enough). c Press ╥Close╙ to close the window. 4 Describe your cards: a Back in the ╥Address╙ window, find and display one of your addresses as you did before. (The ╥Modify╙ button should not be dimmed.) b Press ╥Descriptors╙, select one or more fitting descriptors for the current address and press ╥Okay╙. (Note the term(s) appearing on the ╥Descriptors╙ line. The current address has been annotated (or indexed) with these terms.) c Press ╥Modify╙ to replace the old address by the new one. (The entries in the window are in turn replaced by the old values, i.e. the window represents the old address.) d Annotate and modify all your addresses in the same way. 5 Find cards by templates and descriptors: a You may now look for addresses in a more sophisticated way. Fill in one or more fields, e.g. type a name in the ╥Name╙ field and press ╥Find╙ (or hit the Return key). You may also just type the beginning of a name followed by ╥*╙, or the end of a name preceded by ╥*╙. (You thus define a template for the addresses you look for.) b You may also specify groups of addresses you look for by selecting one or more descriptors (press ╥Descriptors╙ and select in the menu window). All cards with are indexed by at least these terms will be found. c You may search for cards by combining address template and descriptors. d Instead of pressing ╥Find╙, you may press ╥List╙ to print all matching addresses. 6 Define export and import procedures: (See below on how to define export procedures to list your addresses differently, as well as how to define import procedures to read addresses from other files. Also look at the examples that accompany PSI.) 7 Save your information: You may save you data with ╥File:Save╙ and quit with ╥File:Quit╙. FUNCTIONS Ñ File Ñ New ╔: Create new information file. Ñ Open ╔: Load information file. Since only one such file can be loaded, you are asked if the current file is to be saved (if it has been changed). Ñ Save: Save the current file. Ñ Save as ╔: Save the current file with a different name and/or in a different folder or volume. Ñ Add ╔: Add schemata, cards, export/import procedures and/or descriptors of other PSI documents. You are presented with the names of all schemata of the selected file and the entry ╥All Descriptors╙. Select the items you want to add (from). Subsequently and for each schema to add, you are presented with a dialogue window to choose in which way the schema is to be added. There you can choose to add or ignore the new cards, to add the schema definition resp. replace the existing schema definition by the new one or not, and to add the new export/import procedures, replace the existing ones, or ignore the new ones. Finally, you can also choose the name which the schema to be added should have in the existing file. If this name already exists, the chosen items are added to or replacing the existing items as you chose it. NOTE that you can only add a schema (or its cards or procedures) to an existing one if the number of fields match. New descriptors describing the added cards are automatically added to the list of descriptors. If you select ╥All Descriptors╙, all descriptors of the chosen file are added to the current descriptors. NOTE that only schemata of PSI Text documents (option Text file type) can be added, i.e. you first have to save a PSI document as PSI Text file before you can add from it (see also CONDITIONS and ╥File:Options ╔╙). Ñ Options ╔: Set options for PSI. Buttons: Card: Set the card window that is to be shown when loading the current file. You may choose one of the schemata or ╥- No card -╙. If you select a schema, the schema╒s card window is opened automatically whenever this file is loaded. Log: Set the log file to a file or a window. By default, it set to the window ╥Log╙. (╥Reset╙ restores this setting.) Write log (radio button): Switch logging on or off. File type: Can be either Code or Text. This is automatically set when loading a PSI document, and the file will be saved with the same type, unless you set it differently in this window. PSI Code documents are larger, but can be loaded and saved much faster than PSI Text documents. Eval. space: May be increased when dealing with large files. When, say, searching or sorting large amounts of cards, you may get the message ╥No more memory available╙; you may then increase the evaluation space. The number to the right indicates the maximum amount by which the evaluation space may be increased. NOTE that since free space may be segmented, it is possible that only a part of the memory indicated is available. No change will happen in this case. NOTE that the larger the application size, the larger the possible evaluation space. You may not set an evaluation space of less than 24K. The default is 200K. NOTE that you have to close all dialogue windows for the change to come into effect. Save: The current option settings are written to a file called ╥PSI Options╙. Next time you start PSI, the settings of this file are used. You may have several such option files and start PSI with them to use their options. Okay: Close the options window. Ñ Quit: Quit PSI. If your file has been changed, you are asked if you want to save it. Ñ Schema Ñ Schema: Define, modify, delete, or find a schema for your cards (or records). A schema has a name, an optional command which appears in the menu, fields, optional export procedures and optional import procedures. The name of the schema can be anything. The command must be one character. The fields have the format ╥Name1, Position1, Name2, Position2, ╔╙, i.e. each field has a name and a position, all separated by ╥,╙. The field name can be anything, except that it should not begin with ╥/╙, ╥(╙, ╥[╙, ╥{╙, or ╥"╙. The position which will be the position in its window must be a positive integer. 1 means a short edit field left, 2 a short edit field right, and 3 a long edit field; all increments of 3 to these positions denote the same width, but more lines. (For instance, 5 means two short lines right.) Thus, almost all combinations of window positions are possible. NOTE that PSI does not distinguish key fields, but offers the first field whenever you have to select among several cards. Therefore, it is advisable to define a prominent field as the first one. You may also specify text that is to be printed on the card window, writing ╥"Text"╙ (i.e., ╥"╙, your text, and again ╥"╙) instead of a field name, and using the same positioning policies. If the Text contains two items separated by ╥,╙, the first is written at the field name╒s place, the second at the edit╒s place. Otherwise, the Text uses the whole length of name and edit field. You may also structure your card window layout with ""╒s in you schema definition. An example was in the sample first session. Export and import can be defined and set by ╥Export/Import╙ (see this button). The fields ╥Export╙ and ╥Import╙ reflect the procedures currently associated with this schema (currently active). Buttons: Add: Add the schema currently defined in the window. Modify: Replace the schema with this name by the one currently defined in the window. In case you change the fields (names or order), there are two possibilities: Either you just change the names, i.e. the cards of this schema are not affected. Or you change the order of the fields, add new ones and/or remove old ones. In the second case, the field values of all cards of this schema are rearranged. NOTE that you cannot rename and re-order/add/delete fields at the same time. You may change the name of a schema by giving it a new name and pressing ╥Modify╙. You are then asked which schema╒s name you want to replace. NOTE that for all modifications involving the schema name or the fields╒ number or order, the cards are modified, too. Delete: Delete the schema with this name. If cards for this schema exist, you are asked if you really want to delete them. Find (Return key): Find the schema with this name. If a schema with this name could not be found, a scroll menu offers all schemata (except if there is only one, which is filled in immediately). Clear: Clear the edit fields of this window. Close: Close the schema window. In case you didn╒t update your changes, you are asked if it is okay to discard the current schema definition (i.e., the one in the window). Export/Import: Get the export/import window for the current schema. An export or import procedure is defined by a name and a procedure written in a special description format. This procedure can use the schema fields, special keywords, or normal text. It is also possible to specify alternatives and loops. All these items must be separated by ╥,╙, alternatives (also in loops) by ╥;╙. Instead of writing the full field name, it is sufficient to write just the beginning of its name (should be disambiguous). PSI is first looking for an exact match. If none is found, it looks for the first field beginning with the name you wrote. SINCE only the first 255 characters of an edit field can be read, it is strongly suggested that you use this option, and thus avoid overflow if you have long procedures. NOTE also that ╥D╙ stands for the descriptors of a card. You can define several export and import procedures, of which at most one can be active (see button ╥Use╙). NOTE that for the procedure definition, the field list of the existing schema is taken. Only if the current schema of the schema window is not yet defined (added) is its current field list taken. Avoid ╥)╙, ╥]╙ or ╥}╙ in field names appearing in alternatives or loops; they have a special meaning. EXPORT: Format, Format, ╔ Format prints ------ ------ FieldName value of FieldName /eNFieldName Nth element of list FieldName (0,1,╔) D the descriptors, separated by ╥,╙ /eND Nth element of the descriptors (0,1,╔) "Text" Text /s 1 space /sN N spaces /t 1 tab /tN N tabs /n 1 new line /nN N new lines /l 1 line feed /lN N line feeds (Format1,Format2,R;F) R if Format1 = Format2, else do (F) (Formatx should be field, descriptor or text) (Format1,\Format2,R;F) R if Format1 # Format2, else do (F) (Formatx should be field, descriptor or text) [Format1,R;F] R if Format1 is not empty, else do [F] (i.e. like ╥(Format1,\"",R;F)╙) {Format,R} R for all elements of list Format (field or D) (all reference to Format within R references the current element of Format) {Format,R;B;L} (R,B) for all elements of list Format except for the last two, R for the last but one element, L for the last one; R if Format contains only one element (thus, B may be the text between the elements as in ╥{D, D; ", "; " and ",D}╙; all reference to Format within R references the current element of Format) ! Sample export procedure: Assume the schema of the sample first session (see above) with cards like Name Murphy, Eddie Title Home: Street Famous Street, Beverly Hills ZIP Code 77001 City: Los Angeles, CA To list the addresses as address labels: [Title, Title,/s], /e1Name,/s,/e0Name,/n, {Street, Street,/n,}, City,", ",ZIP Code,/n2 meaning, if the Title is not empty, print the Title and a space, then print the first Name, a space, the last Name and a new line, then for each element in the list of streets (separated by ╥,╙), print it on an extra line (print nothing if it is empty), then print the City, ╥, ╙, the ZIP Code and twice new line. Thus, the selected addresses are listed like Eddie Murphy Famous Street Beverly Hills Los Angeles, CA, 77001 IMPORT: Format, Format, ╔ Format reads ------ ----- FieldName value for Field "Text" Text /s till space /t till tab /n till new line /l till line feed - any text (will be ignored) D descriptors (may be separated by ╥,╙) (Format,╔;Format,╔;╔) alternatives; each should be Text, FieldName (each field appears only once; the alternatives should be followed by /s, /t, /n, /l, or single-character text) {Format,╔;Format,╔;╔} loop (several alternatives); each should be Text, FieldName (each field can be repeated; the loop should be followed by two of /s, /t, /n, /l, or single-character text) ! Sample import procedures: To read cards in Refer format, assuming ╥%N╙ stands for the last name, ╥%F╙ for the first name, ╥%T╙ for the title, ╥%S╙ for the street, ╥%Z╙ for the ZIP code, ╥%C╙ for the city, and ╥%K╙ for some key words: {"%T ",Title; "%N ",Name; "%F ",Name; "%S ",Street; "%Z ",ZIP Code; "%C ",City; "%K ",D},/n,/n meaning, read a line (i.e. till new line), and if this line starts with ╥%N ╙, add the rest to Name, if it start with ╥%F ╙, ╔ and so on; stop at an empty new line (the second ╥/n╙). Field names may appear more than once (like ╥Name╙); they are all added up. It is possible to have more items in one loop alternative, meaning that the line is put together from these items. To read cards in a fixed format (as it often comes from data bases), assuming that the fields are separated by tabs and one record is separated by a new line from the next one: Title, /t, Name, /t, Street, /t, ZIP Code, /t, City, /n Note that here and so far, you cannot have a field name appear more than once, i.e. fields can only be added up in loops. Buttons: Export - Import (radio button): Work on export or import procedures, i.e. type is either export or import. Add (Return key): Add the currently defined procedure as procedure of the current type. Modify: Modify the procedure with the current name and of the current type by the currently defined procedure. Delete: Delete procedures of the current type from those offered in a scroll menu. Show: Show the procedures of the current type in a scroll menu. The one selected is brought to the window. List: List all procedures of the current type. Use: Define procedure of the current name and type as current procedure of the schema. Also close the window (see also button ╥Close╙). Close: Close the export/import window. In case the text in the procedure definition field is not a procedure of the current schema, you are asked if it is okay to discard it. NOTE that all export/import modifications are made permanent instantly for the current schema, so you don╒t need to modify the schema for these procedures. Ñ Descriptors: Define and delete descriptors (global descriptor list). Buttons: Add (Return key): Add the current descriptor. The text in the edit field is cleared so that you can enter several descriptors conveniently. Modify: Replace another descriptor that is to be selected afterwards by the current one. NOTE that the descriptor is also replaced in all cards it describes. Delete: Delete descriptors from those offered in a scroll menu. NOTE that the descriptors are also removed from all cards they described. Show: Show the descriptors in a scroll menu. The one selected is brought to the window. List: List all descriptors. Close: Close the descriptors window. Ñ YourSchema: Define, modify, delete, or find cards of this schema. A card consists of the values of the schema╒s fields, and of the descriptors it has been annotated with. A field value can be any term. Its length should not exceed 255. If a field value contains commas, the value can be treated as a list, i.e. the terms separated by the commas can be addressed individually when exporting the value. The field ╥Descriptors╙ reflects the descriptors currently associated with this card. Buttons: Add: Add the card currently defined in the window. Modify: Replace the current card by the card currently defined in the window. The current card is the one last found with Find or accessed with Next or Previous, i.e. the Modify operation is only available after a Find operation. (This button is alternating with the ╥Pattern╙ button.) NOTE that after the modification, the OLD card is displayed in the card window. Delete: Delete the cards that match the card currently defined in the window. The same matching rules as for ╥Find╙ apply. If more than one matching card was found, you can either delete all of them (ALL button, Return key) or select those that are really to be deleted. Find (Return key): Find the card which matches the card currently defined in the window, i.e. the current card is used as template. If more than one matching card was found, a scroll menu offers all matching cards. As long as you do not press any modifying button, you can browse through the set of cards with Next and Previous. You may now modify any of the cards you found. To get the same set of cards again after a modification, use ╥Pattern╙ and ╥Find╙. The match rules for field values are: An empty field matches anything. ╥Text*╙ matches field values that begin with Text. ╥*Text╙ matches field values that end with Text. ╥*Text*╙ matches field values that contain Text. Anything else matches only terms which look exactly the same. The match rule for descriptors is: Cards must be described by at least the same descriptors, i.e. the current set of descriptors has to be a subset of the descriptors of the searched card. NOTE that the cards are only distinguished by the first field and your selections for the other fields and the descriptors. Therefore, if you find a set of cards, of which several have an identical first field, only the first card will be displayed. This is also the case for Next and Previous. Pattern: Recall the card pattern of the last successful Find operation. (This button is alternating with the ╥Modify╙ button, i.e. if you want to recall the Find pattern directly after a Find operation, you first have to press, for example, Clear.) >> (Next): Get the next card that matches the settings of the last Find operation. The set of cards you go through is exactly the set you were presented with after the last Find operation. << (Previous): Like Next, but get the previous card. Descriptors: Describe (annotate) the current card with descriptors by selecting them from the list offered in the scroll menu. (The descriptors to be used must be defined by ╥Schema: Descriptors╙.) List: List the cards which match the card currently defined in the window. The same match rules as for ╥Find╙ apply. The current export procedure of the card╒s schema is used to list the cards. If no export procedure is defined, a default procedure is used. You are asked whether export should be done to a file or window. As long as you export to the same file (long button, Return key), this file is not closed and the listing is appended to former listings to this file. If you choose a different export file the next time you list something, the previous file is closed (if it is not a window). You may also close a file explicitly by using ╥Texts:Close ExportFile╙. Sort: Sort all cards of this schema. You can sort them by any field(s) in any order. To indicate the order, mark the fields (fill in the edit fields) that are relevant for your order with numbers, beginning with 1. For example, you may choose 1 for ╥First name╙, 2 for ╥Name╙ and 3 for ╥City╙. After pressing the button, you are asked if you want to sort in ascending or descending order. The sorting algorithm is most efficient for cards which are only slightly in disorder. Read: Import cards for the schema of the current card window. The current import procedure of this schema is used to read the cards. Import can be done from files or windows. File: This button and facility is enabled only if a card field with the reserved name File has been defined. When pressing this button, the file whose name and path is in the respective field is loaded just like a normal text file (see ╥Texts:Open ╔╙ and ╥Texts:Path ╔╙). Standard Macintosh file names are assumed. If you use a relative path, i.e. just the file name or a path beginning with ╥:╙, the path is assumed to be relative to the home folder of the current PSI file. This allows to have portable file names. NOTE that a text window cannot hold more than 32K of text. Clear: Clear the edit fields of this window. If the edit fields are empty, clear the descriptor selection (i.e. if you click a second time). Close: Close the card window. In case you didn╒t update your changes, you are asked if it is okay to discard the current card (i.e., the one in the window). Ñ Texts Open and close text files, select path names, activate an open window. Ñ New ╔: Create a new text window. Ñ Open ╔: Load a text file into a text window. NOTE that a text window cannot hold more than 32K of text. Ñ Close: Close the front text window. NOTE that if the window is an active listing or log window, it cannot be closed. Ñ Close ExportFile: Close the currently open export file. Only available if the export file is actually a file (and not a window). Ñ Path ╔: Select a path and file name by stepping through the standard file menu. The full file name of the selected file is written to the listing window (or file). This name can then be copied to a card╒s File field. Ñ Help: Loads the PSI help file if necessary and scrolls to the information about the current activity. The help facility is sensitive to the active window, i.e. whenever you select ╥Help╙, you get context-sensitive help information. Ñ WindowName: Bring this window to the front. Ñ Edit Ñ Cut, Copy, Paste: Work as usual. Ñ Balance: Extends the cursor to include the next outer pair of matching brackets (╥( ) { } [ ]╙). Useful when defining export and import procedures with alternatives and loops, but works only for text windows, i.e. you first have to copy your procedure to a window (e.g., ╥Listing╙), and back to the dialogue window afterwards. Ñ Select all: Works only for text windows. Ñ Fonts Select font type and size of the front display window. For CONDITIONS, CONSTRAINTS, WARNINGS, AND MODIFICATIONS see ╥About PSI╙!