dynamic date arithmetic in a macro or otherwise (simulating a "date counter")?

[Matt Price <moptop99@gmail.com>]

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On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 3:25 PM, Matt Price <moptop99@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'd love to be able generate dates dynamically using the {{{n}}} org
> macro, or some other mechanism.  I don't immediately see how that would be
> possible but maybe someone can guide me.  I'd want to do something
> equivalent to this pseudo-elisp:
>
> (let ((base-date 2017-09-05))
>   (+ base-date (* 7 {{{n}}}))
>
> I haven't looked into how date objects are parsed in org-mode, though, so
> I have no idea how hard it would be to actually implement something like
> this.
>

I made some progress on this (but not much).

I defined a simple macro that adds times together and creates a timestamp
that org can read -- in fact, this one adds some text as well:

#+MACRO: w (eval (format-time-string "Week {{{n(week)}}} (<%Y-%m-%d %a>)"
(time-add (encode-time 0 0 0 17 9 2017) (days-to-time (* 7 1)))) )

This does everything that I want *except* dynamically adding time to the
previous macro call.  I tried defining a dynamic version:

#+MACRO: w (eval (format-time-string "Week {{{n(week)}}} (<%Y-%m-%d %a>)"
(time-add (encode-time 0 0 0 17 9 2017) (days-to-time (* 7 $1)))) ))

And then calling it with

{{{w({{{n}}})}}}

But unsurprisingly and appropriately, that didn't work.

I also took a look at the patch Nicolas used to implement the {{{n}}} macro
(I've reattached it here for convenience only!).  It defines
`org-macro--counter-initialize` and calls it from inside
`org-macro-templates-initialize`.  I guess I could copy that strategy but
then I'd be maintaining my own copy of org-macro-templates-initialize,
which seems like a terrible idea.

So, I'm not sure how best to proceed. For my specific use-case, something
like this would be a huge timesaver when multiplied over semesters/years.
But I also wonder whether maybe other people would enjoy being able to do
date arithmetic inside org files (and outside of tables -- I know from
Sacha's 2015 blog post  that this is possible inside a table --
http://sachachua.com/blog/2015/06/using-your-own-emacs-lisp-functions-in-org-mode-table-calculations-easier-dosage-totals/).
If other people would also use such code, I could try to hack something
together for submission. Generalizable functions will be hard for me to
write because I am sometimes a bit dense. I would love to hear suggestions
from the group...


> Thank you everyone!
>

^^ this still applies!
Matt

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From 980b713f28596c7f6486dc1ccfa82f76de7c963d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nicolas Goaziou <mail@nicolasgoaziou.fr>
Date: Mon, 8 May 2017 12:38:38 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] org-macro: Implement the "n" macro

* lisp/org-macro.el (org-macro--counter-table): New variable.
(org-macro--counter-initialize):
(org-macro--counter-increment): New functions.
(org-macro-initialize-templates): Use new functions.

* doc/org.texi (Macro replacement): Document new macro.

* testing/lisp/test-org-macro.el (test-org-macro/n):
(test-org-macro/property): New tests.
---
 etc/ORG-NEWS                   |   3 ++
 lisp/org-macro.el              |  38 +++++++++++++--
 testing/lisp/test-org-macro.el | 102 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------
 3 files changed, 127 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-)

diff --git a/etc/ORG-NEWS b/etc/ORG-NEWS
index 3ca5b0553..b6110c412 100644
--- a/etc/ORG-NEWS
+++ b/etc/ORG-NEWS
@@ -197,6 +197,9 @@ contents, are now supported.
 This new function is meant to be used in back-ends supporting images
 as descriptions of links, a.k.a. image links.  See its docstring for
 details.
+**** New macro : ~{{{n}}}~
+This macro creates and increment multiple counters in a document.  See
+manual for details.
 **** Add global macros through ~org-export-global-macros~
 With this variable, one can define macros available for all documents.
 **** New keyword ~#+EXPORT_FILE_NAME~
diff --git a/lisp/org-macro.el b/lisp/org-macro.el
index 71e917b71..f5ddb92e4 100644
--- a/lisp/org-macro.el
+++ b/lisp/org-macro.el
@@ -36,8 +36,11 @@
 
 ;; Along with macros defined through #+MACRO: keyword, default
 ;; templates include the following hard-coded macros:
-;; {{{time(format-string)}}}, {{{property(node-property)}}},
-;; {{{input-file}}} and {{{modification-time(format-string)}}}.
+;;   {{{time(format-string)}}},
+;;   {{{property(node-property)}}},
+;;   {{{input-file}}},
+;;   {{{modification-time(format-string)}}},
+;;   {{{n(counter,reset}}}.
 
 ;; Upon exporting, "ox.el" will also provide {{{author}}}, {{{date}}},
 ;; {{{email}}} and {{{title}}} macros.
@@ -129,7 +132,7 @@ function installs the following ones: \"property\",
 	    (let ((old-template (assoc (car cell) templates)))
 	      (if old-template (setcdr old-template (cdr cell))
 		(push cell templates))))))
-    ;; Install hard-coded macros.
+    ;; Install "property", "time" macros.
     (mapc update-templates
 	  (list (cons "property"
 		      "(eval (save-excursion
@@ -143,6 +146,7 @@ function installs the following ones: \"property\",
                       l)))))
         (org-entry-get nil \"$1\" 'selective)))")
 		(cons "time" "(eval (format-time-string \"$1\"))")))
+    ;; Install "input-file", "modification-time" macros.
     (let ((visited-file (buffer-file-name (buffer-base-buffer))))
       (when (and visited-file (file-exists-p visited-file))
 	(mapc update-templates
@@ -152,6 +156,10 @@ function installs the following ones: \"property\",
 				  (prin1-to-string visited-file)
 				  (prin1-to-string
 				   (nth 5 (file-attributes visited-file)))))))))
+    ;; Initialize and install "n" macro.
+    (org-macro--counter-initialize)
+    (funcall update-templates
+	     (cons "n" "(eval (org-macro--counter-increment \"$1\" \"$2\"))"))
     (setq org-macro-templates templates)))
 
 (defun org-macro-expand (macro templates)
@@ -280,6 +288,9 @@ Return a list of arguments, as strings.  This is the opposite of
     s nil t)
    "\000"))
 
+\f
+;;; Helper functions and variables for internal macros
+
 (defun org-macro--vc-modified-time (file)
   (save-window-excursion
     (when (vc-backend file)
@@ -304,6 +315,27 @@ Return a list of arguments, as strings.  This is the opposite of
 	  (kill-buffer buf))
 	date))))
 
+(defvar org-macro--counter-table nil
+  "Hash table containing counter value per name.")
+
+(defun org-macro--counter-initialize ()
+  "Initialize `org-macro--counter-table'."
+  (setq org-macro--counter-table (make-hash-table :test #'equal)))
+
+(defun org-macro--counter-increment (name &optional reset)
+  "Increment counter NAME.
+NAME is a string identifying the counter.  If optional argument
+RESET is a non-empty string, reset the counter instead."
+  (if (org-string-nw-p reset)
+      (let ((new-value (if (string-match-p "\\`[ \t]*[0-9]+[ \t]*\\'" reset)
+			   (string-to-number reset)
+			 1)))
+	(puthash name new-value org-macro--counter-table))
+    (let ((value (gethash name org-macro--counter-table)))
+      (puthash name
+	       (if (null value) 1 (1+ value))
+	       org-macro--counter-table))))
+
 
 (provide 'org-macro)
 ;;; org-macro.el ends here
diff --git a/testing/lisp/test-org-macro.el b/testing/lisp/test-org-macro.el
index 26c56745c..64b0a97cc 100644
--- a/testing/lisp/test-org-macro.el
+++ b/testing/lisp/test-org-macro.el
@@ -75,9 +75,22 @@
       (org-macro-initialize-templates)
       (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
       (buffer-string))))
-  ;; Test special "property" macro.  With only one argument, retrieve
-  ;; property from current headline.  Otherwise, the second argument
-  ;; is a search option to get the property from another headline.
+  ;; Macro expansion ignores narrowing.
+  (should
+   (string-match
+    "expansion"
+    (org-test-with-temp-text
+	"#+MACRO: macro expansion\n{{{macro}}}\n<point>Contents"
+      (narrow-to-region (point) (point-max))
+      (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+      (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+      (org-with-wide-buffer (buffer-string))))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-macro/property ()
+  "Test {{{property}}} macro."
+  ;; With only one argument, retrieve property from current headline.
+  ;; Otherwise, the second argument is a search option to get the
+  ;; property from another headline.
   (should
    (equal "1"
 	  (org-test-with-temp-text
@@ -107,17 +120,80 @@
    (org-test-with-temp-text
        "* H1\n:PROPERTIES:\n:A: 1\n:END:\n* H2\n{{{property(A,*???)}}}<point>"
      (org-macro-initialize-templates)
-     (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)))
-  ;; Macro expansion ignores narrowing.
+     (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-org-macro/n ()
+  "Test {{{n}}} macro."
+  ;; Standard test with default counter.
   (should
-   (string-match
-    "expansion"
-    (org-test-with-temp-text
-	"#+MACRO: macro expansion\n{{{macro}}}\n<point>Contents"
-      (narrow-to-region (point) (point-max))
-      (org-macro-initialize-templates)
-      (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
-      (org-with-wide-buffer (buffer-string))))))
+   (equal "1 2"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n}}} {{{n}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))))
+  (should
+   (equal "1 2"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n()}}} {{{n}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))))
+  ;; Test alternative counters.
+  (should
+   (equal "1 1 1 2"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n}}} {{{n(c1)}}} {{{n(c2)}}} {{{n(c1)}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))))
+  ;; Second argument set a counter to a given value.  A non-numeric
+  ;; value resets the counter to 1.
+  (should
+   (equal "9 10"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n(c,9)}}} {{{n(c)}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))))
+  (should
+   (equal "9 1"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n(c,9)}}} {{{n(c,reset)}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))))
+  ;; Tolerate spaces in second argument.
+  (should
+   (equal "9 10"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n(c, 9)}}} {{{n(c)}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))))
+  (should
+   (equal "9 1"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n(c,9)}}} {{{n(c, reset)}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))))
+  ;; Second argument also applies to default counter.
+  (should
+   (equal "9 10 1"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n(,9)}}} {{{n}}} {{{n(,reset)}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))))
+  ;; An empty second argument is equivalent to no argument.
+  (should
+   (equal "2 3"
+	  (org-test-with-temp-text "{{{n(c,2)}}} {{{n(c,)}}}"
+	    (org-macro-initialize-templates)
+	    (org-macro-replace-all org-macro-templates)
+	    (buffer-substring-no-properties
+	     (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position))))))
 
 (ert-deftest test-org-macro/escape-arguments ()
   "Test `org-macro-escape-arguments' specifications."
-- 
2.13.0