Org functions in source blocks

Org functions in source blocks

[William Denton]

I ran org-lookup-all in a source block, but it didn't give any output.  I think 
I don't know something basic about Org or Lisp (likely both) and I hope someone 
can point out what's going on.

For example, I have this table, and I can count how many times x appears:

#+name: test_table
|   | A |
|---+---|
| ! | A |
|   | x |
|   |   |
|   | x |
|   | x |
|---+---|
| # | 3 |
#+TBLFM: $2='(length(org-lookup-all "x" '(@I..@II) nil))

I can do the count from another table, referring to a remote table:

#+name: summary
| A |
|---|
| 3 |
#+TBLFM: @2$1='(length(org-lookup-all "x" '(remote(test_table, @I$A..@II$A)) nil))

But running org-lookup-all on its own like this gives result nil, not something 
with some xs in it.  Why not?

#+begin_src emacs-lisp :results raw
(org-lookup-all "x" '(remote(test_table, @I$A..@II$A)) nil)
#+end_src


Thanks,

Bill

--
William Denton
https://www.miskatonic.org/
Librarian, artist and licensed private investigator.
Toronto, Canada

Re: Org functions in source blocks

[Max Nikulin]

On 10/12/2022 03:41, William Denton wrote:
> 
> #+begin_src emacs-lisp :results raw
> (org-lookup-all "x" '(remote(test_table, @I$A..@II$A)) nil)
> #+end_src

There is nothing wrong with `org-lookup-all'. It just does not receive 
arguments you expect. Try

#+begin_src emacs-lisp :results raw
(list "x" '(remote(test_table, @I$A..@II$A)) nil)
#+end_src

#+RESULTS:
(x (remote (test_table (, @I$A..@II$A))) nil)

@I$A and the "remote" function are available in table formulas only. 
Moreover you quoted remote, so this s-expression is not evaluated. In 
addition, unlike in table formulas, in elisp function arguments are 
separated by space, not by comma.

Use :var to pass test_table to a source block

#+begin_src emacs-lisp :results raw :var data=test_table
data
#+end_src

#+RESULTS:
(( A) (! A) ( x) ( ) ( x) ( x) (# 3))

Unfortunately there are no convenient shortcuts for range selectors like 
"@I$A..@II$A" (at least ready to use). You should use some functions 
instead.

Re: Org functions in source blocks

[William Denton]

On 10 December 2022, Max Nikulin wrote:

> @I$A and the "remote" function are available in table formulas only. Moreover 
> you quoted remote, so this s-expression is not evaluated. In addition, unlike 
> in table formulas, in elisp function arguments are separated by space, not by 
> comma.

Thanks for your explanation about this and the rest.  I have a better sense now 
of what works where and how Elisp code blocks can interact with the Org document 
they're in.  I'll be back with more questions eventually, I'm sure, but for now 
just learning about all the table features I've overlooked so far will keep me 
busy.

Bill

--
William Denton
https://www.miskatonic.org/
Librarian, artist and licensed private investigator.
Toronto, Canada

Re: Org functions in source blocks

[Max Nikulin]

On 12/12/2022 10:23, William Denton wrote:
> On 10 December 2022, Max Nikulin wrote:
> 
>> @I$A and the "remote" function are available in table formulas only. 
...
> I'll be back with more questions eventually,

Using source blocks you may define new functions that you may call from 
table formulas.

You may create an intermediate table to evaluate expressions heavily 
relied on cell ranges and feed this table to another source block as a 
variable.

By the way, a range may be specified when passing a table as a source 
block variable, but it uses another syntax, see

(info "(org)Environment of a Code Block")
https://orgmode.org/manual/Environment-of-a-Code-Block.html

So it is possible to mix table formulas and source code blocks.