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Usage
After installation, an icon should have been added to the applications menu. Alternatively, Outspline can be launched from the command line.
Outspline can be executed with:
$ outspline
This is the command used by the icon in the applications menu.
By default, Outspline uses a configuration file located in
~/.config/outspline/outspline.conf
; if it does not exist, it creates it with
the default values. The -c
option allows using a specific configuration file:
$ outspline -c /path/to/config_file
For a full list of the supported options, run:
$ outspline --help
The user can interact with the database in several ways:
- The main menu at the top gives access to almost all the actions that can be
done. It can be browsed with the mouse, or it can be opened with
F10
. The underlined letters can be used to rapidly select the entries with the keyboard. - The tabs in the left and right notebooks have context menus that can be opened with a right click: they mirror specific actions from the main menu.
- The database tree and the various lists like logs, schedule etc. have their own context menus that can be opened with right clicks.
- Some actions can be executed through buttons and other controls. The buttons
that have an underlined character can be also activated by pressing
Alt
plus the underlined character. - Almost every action can be executed with global keyboard shortcuts that are shown next to the respective items in the main menu, and can be customized.
- Many actions can also be executed through special contextual keyboard shortcuts, that also allow for easy mouseless navigation; these shortcuts are available depending on what element of the interface is focused, and can be customized. They are disabled by default.
Throughout this guide, only one of these methods will be used in examples, usually the main menu action, for simplicity and conciseness.
In the simplest case, the main window will only show the database tree, and by default the logs right below.
If more than one log is installed, their associated icons will appear in a vertical toolbar on the left. The logs panel can be hidden if needed from the main menu or the associated keyboard shortcut.
If there are item editors or plugin interfaces open, they will appear in a pane tiled next to the database tree.
Once Outspline is started for the first time, a blank window will appear. In order to start working on a database, a new one must be created by selecting "New..." from the "File" menu.
To create an item, select the dedicated action from the "Database" menu.
screenshots/firstitem-0.8.1.png
The log that displays the history of the database is associated to a small notebook icon with a pencil.
Entries with a blue rectangle at the left are actions that are done and saved in the database; entries with an amber rectangle are actions that are done but have not been saved yet; entries without a colored rectangle are actions that have been undone. These colors can be customized in the configuration file.
In order to edit an item, select the dedicated action from the menu.
An editor tab will be opened in the right notebook.
Here it is possible to change its text.
If some editor plugins are installed, they will appear above the text area:
to access them, expand the respective bar by clicking on it or highlighting it
with Tab
and pressing Enter
or Space
.
The scheduler plugin allows setting events associated to an item.
screenshots/scheduler-0.8.1.png
Multiple event rules can be associated to the same item, allowing to create complex scenarios. The rules here defined are computed from top to bottom, so that any except rules can be used to filter the rules above, but not those put below.
In order to add a new rule, select the "Add..." button: the rules list panel will be replaced by the rule editor.
screenshots/scheduler_edit-0.8.1.png
Several rule types can be selected with the choice widget. Each rule type has various controls to set. Each of them also has a "Time standard" option: "local" means that the selected dates and times will be based on the system local time, i.e. if the same database was opened in different terminals located in different time zones, the various events would always happen at the same local time; "UTC" means that the selected dates and times will be based on the UTC time, and will always happen at the set time wherever the system that opened the database is located.
You may have noticed that some icons can appear next to database items.
screenshots/tree_icons-0.8.1.png
A "+" means that the item has multiline text. A "@" means that the item has some event rules set. The characters used by these icons can be set or even disabled in the configuration file.
The schedule view lists the events that will happen in a certain time interval.
screenshots/schedule-0.8.1.png
The notebook tab displays the number of active alarms, regardless of the set interval.
At the top there is the filter, that is used to set the time interval to be shown. The filter can be shown and hidden, and its items can be customized in the configuration file.
The "<" and ">" buttons respectively go back or forward by the currently set time interval (pagination); the "Reset" button restores the default view; the "Apply" button applies the filter set by the following controls; the "Set" button behaves like "Apply", but also stores the set filter as the new default, which will be used by "Reset" and when opening Outspline.
Next there are the specific filter buttons; the first choice control allows selecting one among "Relative", "Date" and "Month":
- "Relative" allows setting an interval that depends on the current time, and will automatically refresh the list when due. The next controls allow defining the filter in the "From N to N [time unit]" or "From N for N [time unit]" forms, where if N is a negative number, it represents a time distance in the past, while positive numbers are time distances in the future.
- "Date" sets a regular interval between two fixed dates, from midnight to midnight, in the form "From [date] to [date]" or "From [date] for N [time unit]".
- "Month" sets an irregular interval between two fixed month first days (at midnight), in the form "From [month] [year] to [month] [year]" or "From [month] [year] for N [time unit]".
Below the filters, the actual list can be found: it displays data for each event in 7 columns whose appearance can be customized in the configuration file.
By default, past events are listed with a less contrasting font color; ongoing events are listed in blue; future events are listed with the normal font color. All the colors can be set in the configuration file.
screenshots/schedule_columns-0.8.1.png
When an alarm is activated, it will be shown with an amber font in the list.
screenshots/schedule_alarm-0.8.1.png
The list can also be set to show gaps (unallocated time), in green, and overlappings (time intervals that are used by two or more events), in red.
screenshots/schedule_colors-0.8.1.png
Alarms can be snoozed or dismissed with dedicated menu actions.
screenshots/schedule_snooze-0.8.1.png
When active alarms are snoozed, dismissed or their associated items deleted, the action will be added to the alarms log, which is identified by a bell icon.
Note that action on alarms are treated separately from the other database actions, so undoing the last database action will not restore any closed alarms. Nonetheless, it is easy to find the item associated to an alarm in the log by right-clicking on it or using the keyboard shortcut shown next to the same action under the "View" menu.
Items in the open databases can be searched with the dedicated search interface.
Copyright © 2011-present Dario Giovannetti — Outspline is distributed under the terms of the GPLv3