.TH FILEBASE 1 "September 2026" "filebase @VERSION@" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
filebase \- query a folder of Slipcase containers by their flyleaf
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B filebase
.RI [ DIRECTORY ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B Filebase
opens a window over a folder of
.B .slpc
containers. It binds the folder, runs a SlipQL query over the flyleaf of the
containers in it, and shows what answered as rows: one row per container, one
column per flyleaf key. Selecting a row shows that container's content file and its
full flyleaf beside the table, and offers to hand the content file to whatever the
system opens that kind of file with.
.PP
It reads the flyleaf in place and never unpacks a content file to answer a query. It
keeps no index and no state, so every query is a fresh scan and the answer is
what is on disk now. It never writes a container.
.SH OPTIONS
There are none.
.B Filebase
is a window, not a command-line interface;
.BR slipql (1)
is that, over the same query engine.
.PP
A single
.I DIRECTORY
may be given, which is the folder the window opens bound to. It is what a file
manager passes when it is asked to open a folder with this application, and
what a shell gives when somebody names the folder they are standing in. A path
that is not a directory is declined in the window rather than on the command
line.
.SH QUERIES
The language is SlipQL, and the window embeds the same engine the
.BR slipql (1)
command runs.
.PP
.nf
select <columns> [where <condition>] [limit <n>]
.fi
.PP
The bound folder supplies the
.B from
clause, so a query typed in the window may leave it out; a
.B from
written in the query wins. Columns are flyleaf keys, with dots into nested
tables and brackets into arrays.
.B @path
is the container's path under the bound folder, and
.B "select *"
gives that and then every flyleaf key across the containers that answered.
.PP
A key a container does not have renders as an empty cell rather than failing
the query, because flyleaf keys are ad hoc by design. A file that cannot be
read is skipped and reported under the rows, and so is a comparison that
crossed types.
.SH EXIT STATUS
.B Filebase
exits 0 when the window closes.
.SH FILES
.TP
.I ~/.local/share/applications/filebase.desktop
The desktop entry, where it was installed for one account rather than from a
package.
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR slipql (1),
.BR slipcase (1)
.PP
The format: https://slipcaseformat.org
.SH AUTHOR
David M. Anderson.