cnotes

A simple command-line note-taking system written in strict C89/ANSI C for maximum portability.

Overview

cnotes provides quick, one-line note capture from the terminal. Notes are stored in a simple CSV format and can be displayed, sorted, and filtered.

Supported Platforms

• Linux/Unix (GCC)
• macOS (GCC/Clang)
• Windows (Turbo C++ 3.0, MinGW)
• DOS 6.22 (Turbo C++ 3.0)

Building

Linux/Unix/macOS

make

Binaries are placed in the build/ directory.

DOS/Windows (Turbo C++ 3.0)

make -f MAKEFILE.TC

Or use the batch file if make is unavailable:

BUILD.BAT

Installation (Unix-like systems)

sudo make install    # installs to /usr/local/bin
sudo make uninstall  # removes from /usr/local/bin

Commands

cnadd

Add a new timestamped note entry.

cnadd "Remember to call Bob"
cnadd -c Work "Meeting at 3pm"
cnadd -c Personal "Buy groceries"

Options:

• -c CATEGORY - Specify category (max 10 chars, default: "General")

cndump

Display all notes in a formatted table.

cndump              # display all notes
cndump -d           # sort by date (newest first)
cndump -c           # sort by category
cndump -r           # reverse sort order
cndump -d -r        # sort by date, oldest first
cndump -a           # display archived entries

Options:

• -d, --date - Sort by date/time
• -c, --category - Sort by category
• -r, --reverse - Reverse sort order
• -a, --archive - Show archived entries instead of active

cncount

Display note statistics.

cncount             # total entry count
cncount -c          # count by category
cncount -d          # count by date
cncount -a          # count archived entries
cncount -a -c       # count archived entries by category

Options:

• -c, --category - Show counts per category
• -d, --date - Show counts per date
• -a, --archive - Count archived entries instead of active

cndel

Archive note entries. Entries are moved to cnotes.arc rather than permanently deleted.

cndel -n 5          # archive entry at line 5
cndel -l            # archive the last (most recent) entry
cndel -d 2025-01-30 # archive all entries from a specific date
cndel -n 5 -y       # archive without confirmation prompt

Options:

• -n LINE_NUMBER - Archive entry at specified line number
• -d DATE - Archive all entries matching DATE (YYYY-MM-DD)
• -l - Archive the last (most recent) entry
• -y - Skip confirmation prompt

Archived entries can be viewed using cndump -a, searched with cnfind -a, or counted with cncount -a.

cnfind

Search notes by text, category, or date.

cnfind meeting              # search for 'meeting' in text (case-insensitive)
cnfind -c Work              # show all entries in Work category
cnfind -d 2025-01-30        # show all entries from a specific date
cnfind -c Work meeting      # search 'meeting' in Work category only
cnfind -i meeting           # case-sensitive search
cnfind -n meeting           # show only match count
cnfind -a meeting           # search in archived entries

Options:

• -c CATEGORY - Filter by category (case-insensitive)
• -d DATE - Filter by date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• -i - Case-sensitive search (default is case-insensitive)
• -n - Show only count of matches
• -a, --archive - Search archived entries instead of active

The output includes line numbers for use with cndel -n.

cnhelp

Quick reference for all cnotes commands.

cnhelp              # show command overview
cnhelp cnadd        # help for cnadd
cnhelp dump         # help for cndump (short form)

Configuration

Notes Location

By default, notes are stored in:

Platform	Active Notes	Archived Notes
Unix/Linux	~/.local/share/cnotes/cnotes.csv	~/.local/share/cnotes/cnotes.arc
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\.cnotes\cnotes.csv	%USERPROFILE%\.cnotes\cnotes.arc
DOS	cnotes.csv	cnotes.arc

Environment Variables

• CNOTES_PATH - Override the notes directory location (highest priority)
• On DOS, set CNOTES_HOME if HOME is not available

Example:

export CNOTES_PATH=/custom/path/to/notes

Compile-time Configuration

Override defaults by defining at compile time:

gcc -DCNOTES_DIR=\".mynotes\" -DMAX_ENTRIES=1000 ...

Data Format

Notes are stored in CSV format:

DATE,TIME,CATEGORY  ,"MESSAGE"
2025-01-30,14:30,Work      ,"Meeting with team"
2025-01-30,09:15,Personal  ,"Buy groceries"

Fields:

• Date: YYYY-MM-DD (10 chars)
• Time: HH:MM (5 chars)
• Category: padded to 10 chars
• Message: quoted, max 125 chars

Archive

cnotes follows an immutable-log philosophy. When entries are "deleted" using cndel, they are moved to an archive file (cnotes.arc) rather than permanently removed. This provides:

• Recoverability - Archived entries can be reviewed or manually restored
• Audit trail - A complete history of all notes is preserved
• Data safety - Accidental deletions are never permanent

Use the -a flag with cndump, cnfind, or cncount to work with archived entries.

TODO

Future commands to implement:

• cntail - Show last N entries (quick view)

  cntail                  # last 5 entries
  cntail -n 10            # last 10 entries
  

• cncat - List unique categories

  cncat                   # list categories
  cncat -c                # with counts
  

• cnexport - Export to other formats

  cnexport > notes.txt    # plain text
  cnexport -t > notes.tsv # tab-separated
  

License

[Your license here]

Author

Gregory Gauthier