org-velocity --- something like Notational Velocity for Org

org-velocity --- something like Notational Velocity for Org

[Paul M. Rodriguez]

There exists a notetaking program for OSX called Notational Velocity (http://notational.net/) with an ingeniously simple interface.  (I say "there exists" since I've never actually used it.)  When you enter a search phrase, the program lists all notes where the phrase occurs; if there are no matching notes, then the search phrase is used as the title of a new note.

When I read about this I thought it would be straightforward to create a similar interface for Emacs, storing the notes in Org format.  Each note is simply a heading in a file.  The mode line is used to read a search, a display buffer shows the results, and (optionally) org-remember is used to record new notes.  You can use the interface to maintain a single "bucket" file, or to navigate any Org file.

The package is available at http://gopher.ruricolist.com/lisp/org-velocity.el.

It works for me but of course any feedback or suggestions would be
welcome.

Paul Rodriguez

Re: org-velocity --- something like Notational Velocity for Org

[Carsten Dominik]

Hi Paul, this is pretty neat!


Suggestions:

1. Make the list format such that the number comes first:

    #1 first match
    #2 second matching heading

2. When you show the list, if would be great if a single key would
    get you to the entry, like 1-9 for the first ones, you could
    assign letters a-z for more.

3. It feels like mouse-1 should get you to the heading, but that
    does not work.

4. I would also like a key which will make a new note with this title,
    even if there are matched.  Proposal:  use the "0" key
    for this function.

5. Search feels much slower than it should be - but I am not
    sure how you implemented it.  Maybe use elp to find out where
    the time is spent?  Instead of building an alist of headings,
    maybe the following procedure is faster: Find the word, go
    back to the heading and save the heading, then jump to the
    next heading and continue to search.

6. There should be a command to do the current buffer, independent
    of the value of the bucket file name.

7. The customization type 'file might be better for the bucket
    file name.

8. Org's search view (C-c a s) lives in a similar space, but it
    uses the agenda, and I like yours as a quick way to go
    somewhere, or to add a note.

Thanks!

- Carsten


On Jun 7, 2010, at 12:25 AM, Paul M. Rodriguez wrote:

>
> There exists a notetaking program for OSX called Notational Velocity  
> (http://notational.net/) with an ingeniously simple interface.  (I  
> say "there exists" since I've never actually used it.)  When you  
> enter a search phrase, the program lists all notes where the phrase  
> occurs; if there are no matching notes, then the search phrase is  
> used as the title of a new note.
>
> When I read about this I thought it would be straightforward to  
> create a similar interface for Emacs, storing the notes in Org  
> format.  Each note is simply a heading in a file.  The mode line is  
> used to read a search, a display buffer shows the results, and  
> (optionally) org-remember is used to record new notes.  You can use  
> the interface to maintain a single "bucket" file, or to navigate any  
> Org file.
>
> The package is available at http://gopher.ruricolist.com/lisp/org-velocity.el 
> .
>
> It works for me but of course any feedback or suggestions would be
> welcome.
>
> Paul Rodriguez
>
> _______________________________________________
> Emacs-orgmode mailing list
> Please use `Reply All' to send replies to the list.
> Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode

- Carsten

Re: org-velocity --- something like Notational Velocity for Org

[Bastien]

Hi Paul,

Carsten Dominik <carsten.dominik@gmail.com> writes:

> Hi Paul, this is pretty neat!

I also tested it and I like it.

> Suggestions:
>
> 1. Make the list format such that the number comes first:
>
>    #1 first match
>    #2 second matching heading
>
> 2. When you show the list, if would be great if a single key would
>    get you to the entry, like 1-9 for the first ones, you could
>    assign letters a-z for more.
>
> 3. It feels like mouse-1 should get you to the heading, but that
>    does not work.

mouse-2 works but I agree mouse-1 would feel more natural.

> 4. I would also like a key which will make a new note with this title,
>    even if there are matched.  Proposal:  use the "0" key
>    for this function.
>
> 5. Search feels much slower than it should be - but I am not
>    sure how you implemented it.  Maybe use elp to find out where
>    the time is spent?  Instead of building an alist of headings,
>    maybe the following procedure is faster: Find the word, go
>    back to the heading and save the heading, then jump to the
>    next heading and continue to search.

Yes, search is also quite long, it will prevent any regular use.
(Especially since the incremental search in Emacs is quite fast.)

> 6. There should be a command to do the current buffer, independent
>    of the value of the bucket file name.
>
> 7. The customization type 'file might be better for the bucket
>    file name.
>
> 8. Org's search view (C-c a s) lives in a similar space, but it
>    uses the agenda, and I like yours as a quick way to go
>    somewhere, or to add a note.

Adding a small idea:

9. having some completion mechanism to pich up a heading would be nice.  

Thanks for this contribution!

-- 
 Bastien