This document describes the minimal set of commands it takes to maintain a knowledge base in Hode. They are the commands I find myself using most.

Start it

This does not provide installation instructions; for that, see the README.

Assuming you've run stack ghci and it has successfully loaded the Hode libraries, all you need to type is ui to start Hode.

Add things

Add an atomic expression, a.k.a. a "phrase"

Type /add Ukraine. Type M-x (that probably means Alt-x, unless you use a Mac) to execute the command. You've just added the atomic expression Ukraine to your graph.

Phrases can have any number of words, and most special symbols. For instance, you could add the expression hyperbaric syllogism for a !@#$ bleating melodrama, with the command /add hyperbaric syllogism for a !@#$ bleating melodrama.

Add a relationship

The # operator is used to distinguish the joints from the members of a relationship.

For instance, type /add Saudi Arabia #exports oil, then M-x. You just added Saudi Arabia, oil and an exports relationship between them to your graph.

Add a relationship between relationships

Using parentheses, you can nest as many relationships as you might want.

Type /add (Saudi Arabia #exports oil) #(because, I'm guessing) its extraction cost is 3 US dollars per barrel, then M-x. You've just added a because, I'm guessing relationship between the expression Saudi Arabia #exports oil (which was already present) and the new expression its extraction cost is 3 US dollars per barrel.

Add a ternary relationship

Relationships can have any positive number of members. This command, for instance, creates one with three members:

/add Bill #gave flowers #to Mary

Find things

Find an atomic expression

Type /find Bill. Execute it with M-x. If Bill is an expression in your graph, you now see something like this:

Find a relationship

Same idea. For instance, /find birds #eat worms.

Navigate to neighbors without typing commands

So far we've been typing things into the "command window" at the bottom of the screen. Many operations don't require that.

Let's add a couple expressions to the graph. (The first expression is one we already added, but adding it again does no harm, uses no new resources.)

/add Suadi Arabia #exports oil
/add Japan #imports oil
/add Slovakia #imports oil

Next let's visit the expression oil, by executing /find oil. Now hide the command window with M-c (which, as usual, probably means Alt-c). You should see something like this:

The text at the bottom indicates that we are no longer in "command language mode", but rather in "subgraph mode". This makes a new set of commands available. This document will only describe a few of them.

The 2 in the second column of characters next to oil indicates that it is a member of 2 relationships.

Find host relationships with h

Press h. You should now see something like this:

In the second layer of the tree, we see that oil is in two kinds of relationship: ones in which something exports it, and ones in which something imports it. In the third layer, we see all relationships belonging to those two categories.

Navigate the view-tree with e, d, s, and f

The view-tree is Hode's term for the text on the screen in the subgraph view. When you first run a search it's flat -- in our case it was just one element, oil -- but subgraph mode commands like h can complicate that flat list, turning it into a multi-layered tree.

The keys e, d, s, and f serve as up, down, left and right, respectively. Try using them to move around the view tree. Notice how the "focused" (highlighted) expression changes.

Find member expressions with m

Navigate to the expression Saudi Arabia #exports oil. Now press m. The view-tree should now look like this:

We see the three members of the relationship. The first one, _ exports _, looks kind of weird. That's called the template for the relationship. The other two are the "ordinary" members, Saudi Arabia and oil.

Those are the most commonly used commands.

But that's not all! The README can point you at lots of other documentation. It covers essential functions not mentioned here, like loading, saving and replacing data.

That other documentation also describes a simple language called Hash that lets you run complex searches -- searches like "foods that Amy and Billy both like that Billy isn't allergic to", or "countries of residence of the people who came to my wedding", or "everyone within 3 layers of command from the boss".