You will easily guess that the command to retrieve extended notes is called getnote. The syntax is very similar to the getref command described above:
refdbc: getnote -h
Displays the result of a database search for notes.
Syntax: getnote [-c command] [-d database] [-E encoding] [-h] [-o outfile] [-O outfile][-P] [-R pdfroot] [-s format] [-S tag] [-t output-format] {search-string|-f infile}
Search-string: {:XY:{<|=|~|!=|!~|>}{string|regexp}} [AND|OR|AND NOT] [...]
where XY specifies the field to search in
Options: -c command pipe the output through command
-d database specify the database to work with
-E encoding specify the input character encoding
-h prints this mini-help
-o outfile save the output in outfile (overwrite)
-O outfile append the output to outfile
-P limit search to personal interest list
-R use pdfroot as root for path of pdf files
-s format specify fields for screen or style for DocBook output
-S tag sort output by tag ID (default) or PY
-t output-format display as format scrn, html, xhtml, or xnote
-f infile use the saved search line in file infile
All other arguments are interpreted as the search string.
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As you can see, most of what we said about finding references also applies to extended notes. We'll only look at the differences here. The most obvious difference is the available fields to query for. For extended notes, the following fields are available:
The unique id of an extended note.
The unique citation key of an extended note.
The date of an extended note.
The title of an extended note.
A keyword. This is a keyword attached to a note in order to categorize the latter, similar to a keyword in a reference.
A keyword. This is a keyword that the note is linked to, i.e. a keyword that the note was attached to in order to supply additional information.
The name of an author or editor. Use this field specifier to locate notes that are linked to a particular author.
The full, abbreviated, or user-abbreviated name of a periodical. Use this field specifier to locate notes that are linked to a periodical.
The id of a reference. Use this field specifier to locate notes linked to a particular reference.
The citation key of a reference. Use this field specifier to locate notes linked to a particular reference.
The other major difference is the available output formats.
Table 2-2. refdb notes output formats
| Name | File format | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| scrn | plain text | display of search results in a terminal window |
| html | HTML 4.01 | display of search results in a web browser |
| xhtml | XHTML 1.0 | display of search results in an XML-aware web browser |
| xnote | xnote | editing references, backup of databases |
Some basic notes queries using these fields are shown here:
refdbc: getnote :NCK:=biochemistry1999 |
This query retrieves the note with the key "biochemistry1999".
refdbc: getnote :CK:=Miller1999 |
This query retrieves the note which is attached to the reference carrying the citation key "Miller1999".