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# Bibiman
`bibiman` is a simple terminal user interface for handling your BibLaTeX database as part of a terminal-based scientific workflow.
Here's a small impression how it looks and works:
## Installation
For now, `bibiman` is only available via Codeberg. You have to build it from source yourself using `cargo` and `rustup`:
```bash
git clone https://codeberg.org/lukeflo/bibiman
cd bibiman
cargo build --release
# optional: create symlink:
ln -sf /target/release/bibiman ~/.local/bin
```
If you use the symlink option, you have to make sure that the directory containing the symlink is in your `PATH`.
## Usage
You need to pass a single `.bib` file as first positional argument:
`bibiman /path/to/bibfile.bib`
Of course, this can be aliased if you only use one main file. E.g. in `.bashrc`/`.zshrc`:
`alias bibi=bibiman /path/to/bibfile.bib`
## Features
For now, `bibiman` only has some very basic features implemented which are important for my personal workflow:
+ **Browse** through the bib entries using *Vim-like keybindings* and a *fuzzy search* mode.
+ **Filter** the bib entries by *keywords* (and afterwards filter further by fuzzy searching).
+ **Edit** the current entry by opening a *terminal-based editor* at the specific line
+ **Yank/Copy** the citekey of the current entry to the system clipboard.
Furthermore, I want to implement the following features:
- [ ] **Open PDF**: Open related PDF file (`file` BibLaTeX key) with keypress.
- [ ] **Open URL/DOI**: Open related DOI/URL with keypress.
- [ ] **Add Entry via DOI**: Download bibliographic metadata for inserted DOI and add it to `.bib` file
## Keybindings
Use the following keybindings to manage the TUI:
| Key | Action |
|--------------- | --------------- |
| **j/k** \| **Down/Up** | Move selected list |
| **g/G** | Go to first/last entry |
| **y** | Yank/copy citekey of selected entry |
| **e** | Open editor at selected entry |
| **TAB** | Switch between entries and keywords |
| **/** \| **Ctrl+f** | Enter search mode |
| **Enter** | Filter by selected keyword / Confirm search |
| **ESC** | Abort search / Reset current list |
| **q** \| **Ctrl-C** | Quit TUI |
## Search
The search mode uses the `nucleo-matcher` crate. Thus, *fuzzy searching* is enabled by default. You can use some special chars to alter pattern matching:
+ `^...` matches only the beginning of the string.
+ `...$` matches only the end of the string.
+ `'...` matches literally (no fuzzy matching).
## Edit bib entry
For now, the TUI only supports editors set through the environment variables `VISUAL` and `EDITOR` in this order. The fallback solution is `vi`.
I've tested the following editors (set as value of `VISUAL`):
- [X] **Helix**: `export VISUAL="hx"`
- [X] **Vim/Neovim**: `export VISUAL="vim/nvim"`
- [X] **Emacs (Terminal)**: `export VISUAL="emacs -nw"`
- [X] **Nano**: `export VISUAL="nano"`
- [X] **Emacs (GUI)**: `export VISUAL="emacs"` (open emacs in separate window, blocks the terminal running `bibiman` as long as emacs is opened)
Feel free to try other editors. Important is that the editor supports the argument `+..` to set the line number that the cursor should be placed at. Otherwise, the functionality might not work properly.
Since this behaviour is most likely supported on UNIX-based systems (Linux, MacOS) it might not work under Windows. I can't test it on a Windows machine, thus, there might be unexpected errors with it.
## Issues and code improvement
This is my first Rust project and, thus, also a learning process. If you find any issues or code flaws, please open an issue. I plan to make PRs possible in the future when its a little bit less early alpha state.
## Alternatives
`bibiman` is a project tailored to my personal needs. I use a single main file for all my bib entries and want to use `bibiman` mainly as kind of (terminal)-graphical wrapper for often emerging tasks, since I work in the terminal most of the time.
I used `JabRef` for many years, but its way to bloated in my eyes. There exists a bunch of other graphical tools. Just check it yourself...
But there are also some TUI alternatives with slightly different approaches. Maybe one of these might fit *your* personal needs better:
+ [bibman (Haskell)](https://codeberg.org/KMIJPH/bibman): A very nice CLI program including a TUI I also used for some times. It has way more features (export etc.) at the moment. The main difference is that its based on a multi file approach. If you also use a separate file per entry, look there!
+ [bibman (Python)](https://github.com/ductri/bibman): A TUI written in Python with focus on Zotero-like functions. If you're uses to Zotero, this might be a good fit.
+ [bibman (Perl)](https://github.com/maciejjan/bibman): A fast and simple TUI written in good ol' Perl. It looks like back in the days, but seems not being maintained anymore
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