Re: [Addressbook-devel] addrbook-directory

[Jose E . Marchesi]

Hi.

    addrbook-directory seems not to be implemented. Whats the status
    of implementation?

abook.el is not supporting multiple files with vcard data yet.

I am seriously thinking on changing the way the addressbook works.
The current operation model can be summarized in:

- The user opens a file (or set of files, if the proper backend is
  implemented) containing vcards.

- The data in those vcards is parsed and stored in the global variable
  'abook-cards' in a suitable data structure.

- Two buffers are created (Abook and Abook Summary) operating on the
  global data in 'abook-cards'.

- vcard.el implements the parsing routines while abook.el implements
  the database + visualization.
  
Some time ago I talked about addressbook with rms, and he came with a
quite nice idea: to dissociate the vcard parser/viewer from the
agenda.  Now that some people seems to be interested in addressbook I
am feeling motivated to make those changes.

As rms suggested, the addressbook would be composed by:

- The vcard parser.  It would be in vcard.el.

- A vcard-mode designed to view/edit a vcard file.  The mode can be
  activated in any file containing vcard data, even if it is not part
  of any addressbook.  We could call it vcard-mode.el.
 
- An addressbook, to maintain a collection of contacts and that would
  make extensive use of the vcard-mode.  We could call it abook.el.

In that way the addressbook would be providing functionalities like
contacts searching, a public API for applications, etc, leaving the
details on vcard editing to the vcard-mode.

So now the goal is to adapt the existing code in abook.el to that new
design.  I can identify several tasks there:

- To make vcard.el to support encodings and vcards 3.0.

- To get the vcard visualization/editing code out of abook.el into
  vcard-mode.el.

- To write abook.el

I could dedicate like three hours per week to this project.  That
means that in ~2 months we could get something :)

--
Jose E. Marchesi    address@hidden
GNU Project         http://www.gnu.org