Getting Started

Download the installation file and run it. Choose the SQLite database for now. Start the program. ORPAL will open with a sample database of classic articles in Psychology.

Look around, click on things, and try out all the features. ORPAL was designed to be somewhat intuitive, but use the Manual as a guide. The README file can also be helpful as it often lists some newer features that are not yet covered in the Manual.

The Manual

I highly recommend checking out the Manual. It has lots of screenshots, explanations and tips. ORPAL is meant to be easy to use during normal usage, not necessarily right away. Thus, there are some functions that aren't immediately obvious (or labeled). But, it should only take a few minutes to get very familiar with how it works.

Download the Manual (.pdf, 0.5mb)

FAQs

Can I trust ORPAL?

Your data is safe, exportable, and always available for you to access and modify however you wish. Just know that deletes are perminant (though you can only delete one record at a time, and not if it is a parent), and saving is automatic (there is only a very limited "undo"). There is quick and easy a backup command, and you can turn on automatic backups if you prefer. It never hurts.

Why is being Relational important?

Relational databases only store each thing once, so if you wanted to store notes about an author, or a journal, it will be there every time, and it is incredibly easy to search by author or journal. In other words, each author is represented only once and is ‘linked’ to the things they’ve written. Similarly, articles are ‘linked’ to journals, and chapters are ‘linked’ to their books.

Why should I care that it is Open Source?

Open Source software allows anybody to modify and improve upon a program and give it away, for free. This means you don't have to rely upon a company to add features you want, or adapt it to your particular situation.

ORPAL is specifically designed to be customizable as easily as possible. The program is written in the perl langage, with perl/tk extensions. However, most of the common changes (i.e., those in the library.conf file) should only need the ability to copy patterns.