Interface: Flow of The Syntax

The transformation is complete.

My last post demonstrated some of the major changes to expect in syntax between now and the second release candidate of NanoBlogger 3.4. In many cases these transformations might appear similar to the behavior exhibited in versions 3.3 and before. In other cases they will be radically different, but in any case, I'm confident that most people will view these changes as a welcome improvement over 3.4 RC1.

Just to reiterate, the following changes, while primarily focused on changes from the previous release, are still relevant when compared to earlier versions.

List of Syntax Enhancements & Changes:

synopsis: nb [options] <action> [keyword (variable)]

add action:

The add action has been reworked to accept one of multiple keywords. Keywords include: article, entry, tag and weblog.

example 1: nb add entry
example 2: nb add tag

list action:

The list action, while not much different than 3.3's "--list" option, has been enhanced to accept a second argument as input for a tag's ID number. Eliminating the need to use the "--tag" option to list entries by tag.

example 1: nb list tags
example 2: nb list main
example 3: nb list tag 3

edit action:

The edit action has been enhanced to accept one of multiple keywords. Keywords, "tag" and "entry", should be followed by an ID number. Where the keyword "file" expects a filename. The edit action in 3.4 RC 1 had no keywords.

example 1: nb edit entry 5
example 2: nb --title example2 edit tag 2
example 3: nb edit file somefile.txt

delete action:

The delete action has been enhanced much the same way the edit action has been. The only difference is that it's intentionally missing the keyword, "file". The delete action in 3.4 RC 1 had no keywords.

example 1: nb delete entry 5
example 2: nb delete tag 2

update action:

The update action, while no different than 3.3's "--update" option, no longer requires the "query" action for manipulation like it did in 3.4 RC1.

example: nb update main

import action:

The import action replaces the so called, "file" action and accepts one of multiple keywords followed by a preexisting file. Keywords include: article and entry.

example: nb import entry somefile.txt

Additional notes:

• The previous actions, formerly known as "query" and "tag" have been regulated to their equivalent long options, "--query" and "--tag". The "--tag" long option must be used when you need to manipulate entries belonging to a specific tag. The "--query" long option is useful for narrowing the scope of entries to be managed.

• Every action has always included a default query, In 3.3 this was changed to return a limited amount of results. As pointed out on the mailing list, this could be point of confusion, so it has been changed back to pre-3.3 behavior of not defaulting to a limited query. The default query can be changed through the configuration or overridden from the command line.

• Short options are also provided for many of the actions and long options.