TOPIC(1)TOPIC(1)NAME
Topic Markup Parser
SYNTAX
Use only a single option per invocation:
topic [tag < FILE] [-i < FILE] [-r] [-m] [-l]
DESCRIPTION
TOPIC markup provides a minimal context for plain text databases that
can be read/modified by most text editors, and easily parsed as well.
Uses include: knowledge-bases, glossaries, apropos, notes...
OPTIONS
tag stream blocks with tags matching 'tag' to stdout
-i stream tag index to stdout
-r launch topic in REPL mode
-m display markup specification
-l display license
REPL
The read/evil/print/loop provides a convenient method to query a topic
datafile within an interactive shell.
dot commands:
.h help
.q query datafile for topic: .q apples
.d datafile [required]: .d /path/datafile
.i index datafile
.x exit
history/line editing keys:
up/down history previous/next
tab cycle .cmd stack [if line empty]
ctrl+a to start of line
ctrl+e to end of line
ctrl+k delete from current to end of line
ctrl+u erase line
ctrl+l clear screen
ENVIRONMENT
In REPL mode, topic scans the user's environment during initialization
for the variable TOPICDATA. If the variable points to a valid file
name, topic will thereafter use it as the datafile till manually
changed with the dot command .d
To set the variable study these examples...
# [t]csh shells (~/.login)
setenv TOPICDATA /path/datafile
# bourne shells (~/.profile)
export TOPICDATA=/path/datafile
MARKUP
Invoke topic-m | more for complete markup specifications.
DIAGNOSTICStopic returns 0 on success, 1 upon error.
BUGS
None known...
LEGALESE
TOPIC markup specification [c]2014 Michael S. Sanders. And absolutely
free for anyone to use in perpetuity. Invoke topic-l for license
details.
AUTHOR
Michael S. Sanders
http://freebsd.hypermart.net
COLOPHON
Here come ol' flat-top, he come groovin' up slowly...
Michael S. Sanders 2014/01/01 TOPIC(1)
