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(bbdb.info)Database Fields

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Database Fields
---------------

   The database is organized as a set of records, where each record
corresponds to one person or organization.  Each record has several
fields, and each field is of one of several types.  Below, the built-in
types are listed, followed by a description of how and why some types
can be used more than once in a single record:

Type    Description                          Notes
`name'  The name of this person, or none if  Single value, single
        the record corresponds to an         instance.
        organization.                        
`company'The name of this person's            Single value, single
        organization, or none.               instance.
`AKA'   A list of other names for this       Multiple values through
        person.                              commas.
`net'   A list of this person's network      Multiple values through
        addresses.                           commas.
`address'A list of postal (physical)          Multiple values through
        addresses for this person.           multiple occurences.
`phone' A list of telephone numbers for      Multiple values through
        this person.                         multiple occurences.
`notes' Random commentary.                   Multiple values through
                                             multiple occurences.

   The field types listed above can be classified into four categories,
as indicated by the comments in the `Notes' column.

   Field types marked as "Single value, single occurrence" may only
occur once per record.  Each occurrence can only have a single value.
For example, there will be only one field of type `name' in a record.
It will be named `name', and will contain a single value (the person's
name).

   The types marked as "Multiple values through commas" are essentially
the same as the single value, single occurrence field types, but with
one crucial difference: they can contain multiple values in the form of
a comma-separated list.  So, for example, while a `name' field with a
value of "foo, bar" would be treated as if it contained the single value
"foo, bar", a `net' field with the same data would be thought of as
having two separate values - "foo" and "bar".  As in the single
occurrence, single value field types, there will be only one occurrence
of each "Multiple values through commas" field type, and the occurrence
will have the same name as the type.

   The "Multiple values through multiple occurrences" field type is the
most flexible of the four listed here.  There can be multiple
occurrences of each type.  This type necessarily does not have the name
restriction imposed by the previous two types.  For example, there can
be multiple fields of the `address' type, none of which have to be
named `address'.  One could be named `home', and the other could be
named `work'.

   Special properties of the `notes' field type: All user-defined
fields that don't fit into the other predefined field types (`name',
`company', `AKA', `net', `address', and `phone') will be created as a
`notes'-type field.  In addition, several of the user-defined field
names are "special".  That is, the BBDB treats the values of these
"special" fields differently than it does other user-defined fields.
The "special" fields are:

`attribution'
     (Available only when the Supercite-specific BBDB functions have
     been enabled) Used for the storage of Supercite attributions.  For
     initialization details, see Note: Supercite Prep.  For usage
     details, see Note: Using Supercite.  The field used can be
     changed by changing the value of `bbdb/sc-attribution-field'.

`aka'
     Used to store non-primary names associated with a given record.

`face'
     (XEmacs only) Used for the storage of image data.  This data is to
     be in the format output by `compface', and commonly found in
     `X-Face:' headers in messages.  If face support has been compiled
     into XEmacs, the image contained in the `face' header will be
     displayed when the record is viewed.

`finger-host'
     Address used in place of the listed net address for fingering the
     entity indicated by the record. Note: BBDB Mode.  The field used
     can be changed by changing the value of `bbdb-finger-host-field'.

`gnus-score'
     Gnus scoring adjustment for this person.  For initialization
     details, see Note: Gnus Prep.  For usage details, see Note: Gnus
     Features. The field used can be changed by changing the value of
     `bbdb/gnus-score-field'.

`mail-alias'
     Value used instead of `name' for completion.  Note: Mail Sending
     Interfaces.

`mail-name'
     (Available only when the Reportmail-specific BBDB functions have
     been enabled)  Used for the storage of non-default names to be
     used in the reporting of new mail by Reportmail.  For
     initialization details, see Note: Reportmail Prep.  For usage
     details, see Note: Using Reportmail.

`mark-char'
     The field containing the character to be used for marking a given
     poster in the Gnus Summary Buffer.  For usage details, see Note:
     Gnus Summary Buffer.

`tex-name'
     The value of this field is used in place of the `name' field when
     printing the database using `bbdb-print'.  Note: bbdb-print.

`www'
     This field contains the URL associated with the BBDB record.
     Common uses are with `bbdb-snarf' (Note: bbdb-snarf) and the
     BBDB/Web Browser functionality (for initialization details, see
     Note: Web Browser Prep.  For usage details, see Note: Using Web
     Browsers).