up | previous | next | ttw@shore.net
With LifeLines you maintain the database records using a screen editor.
This is different than other genealogical programs where screens or forms
are used to gather the data.
The default screen editor for LifeLines is vi.
This can be overridden by the ED, EDITOR or
LLEDITOR environment variables.
For example, if you prefer the emacs screen editor, you may add the line:
ED=emacs
to your login profile file, and LifeLines will use emacs for editing.
There are four other, LifeLines specific environment variables.
They are LLDATABASES, LLARCHIVES,
LLPROGRAMS and LLREPORTS.
LLDATABASES and LLPROGRAMS are UNIX
path list variables.
LLDATABASES can be set to a list of directories that hold
LifeLines databases.
When you execute the LifeLines programs these directories will be searched in
turn for the database mentioned on the command line.
For example,
LLDATABASES=.:/usr/ttw4/LifeLines/Databases
indicates that databases should be searched for in the current directory first, and if not found there, then searched for in:
/usr/ttw4/LifeLines/Databases
Each LifeLines database is implemented as a directory with specific
contents.
The LLDATABASES variable should be set to a list of directories
that contain these database directories, not to a list of database directories
themselves.
The environment variable LLPROGRAMS is used in the same way, but
to specify the search path for LifeLines report generating and other programs
(described later).
LLARCHIVES and LLREPORTS can each be set to specify
a single directory.
LLARCHIVES is used to select a directory where all database backup
files will be stored, and LLREPORTS is used to select a directory
where all generated reports and program outputs will be placed.
You are not required to use these environment variables; when a variable is not defined, LifeLines uses the current directory as its default value. If you do use the variables, you can override their use by specifying files and directories as either absolute or relative paths.
LifeLines uses the curses library for terminal independent I/O.
This requires you to specify your terminal type with the TERM
environment variable.
up | previous | next | ttw@shore.net
1/1/00