Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-26 Thread Bastien
Hi Tom,

t...@tsdye.com (Thomas S. Dye) writes:

 Aloha all,

 Perhaps they are [[tag:boxed][already]] here with org-add-link-type?  It
 seems to me that all that's missing is a way to specify a function to
 determine on screen display.  But, I might be missing something.

just as a quick follow-up: I understand the need.  I will hack
org-link-protocols so that they can hold a custom face for each
link type.  But this won't happen for 7.7, only around mid-sept
if that's okay.

Thanks again for insisting on this, this will be quite a useful
addition!

Best,

-- 
 Bastien



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-26 Thread Florian Beck
Bastien b...@altern.org writes:

 Hi Tom,

 t...@tsdye.com (Thomas S. Dye) writes:

 Aloha all,

 Perhaps they are [[tag:boxed][already]] here with org-add-link-type?  It
 seems to me that all that's missing is a way to specify a function to
 determine on screen display.  But, I might be missing something.

 just as a quick follow-up: I understand the need.  I will hack
 org-link-protocols so that they can hold a custom face for each
 link type.  But this won't happen for 7.7, only around mid-sept
 if that's okay.

IIUC, entries would be of the form (TYPE FOLLOW EXPORT FACE).

What if instead of FACE you could (alternativly) specify a function that
supplied additional text properties? Possibly a face, of course, but
also interesting are `display' and `help-echo'.

I'm not a programmer, but I got this working with quite small changes
(rather untested, I admit):

diff -c /home/flo/elisp/org-mode/lisp/org.el /home/flo/tmp/org.el
*** /home/flo/elisp/org-mode/lisp/org.el2011-07-26 15:52:16.160581036 
+0200
--- /home/flo/tmp/org.el2011-07-26 16:16:00.022669409 +0200
***
*** 5315,5331 
  (defun org-activate-bracket-links (limit)
Run through the buffer and add overlays to bracketed links.
(if (re-search-forward org-bracket-link-regexp limit t)
!   (let* ((help (concat LINK: 
!  (org-match-string-no-properties 1)))
 ;; FIXME: above we should remove the escapes.
 ;; but that requires another match, protecting match data,
 ;; a lot of overhead for font-lock.
 (ip (org-maybe-intangible
  (list 'invisible 'org-link
'keymap org-mouse-map 'mouse-face 'highlight
'font-lock-multiline t 'help-echo help)))
!(vp (list 'keymap org-mouse-map 'mouse-face 'highlight
!  'font-lock-multiline t 'help-echo help)))
;; We need to remove the invisible property here.  Table narrowing
;; may have made some of this invisible.
(org-remove-flyspell-overlays-in (match-beginning 0) (match-end 0))
--- 5315,5348 
  (defun org-activate-bracket-links (limit)
Run through the buffer and add overlays to bracketed links.
(if (re-search-forward org-bracket-link-regexp limit t)
!   (let* ((path (org-match-string-no-properties 1))
!(help (concat LINK:  path))
!(type (save-match-data
!(if (string-match
! ^\\(.*?\\):
! path)
!(org-match-string-no-properties 1 path
 ;; FIXME: above we should remove the escapes.
 ;; but that requires another match, protecting match data,
 ;; a lot of overhead for font-lock.
+(custom-attr-1 (nth 3 (assoc type org-link-protocols)))
+;; Check if `org-link-protocols' is a face or a function
+;; that returns text properties.
+(custom-attr
+  (if (and custom-attr-1
+   (facep custom-attr-1))
+  `(face ,custom-attr-1)
+(funcall (or custom-attr-1 'ignore) path)))
 (ip (org-maybe-intangible
  (list 'invisible 'org-link
'keymap org-mouse-map 'mouse-face 'highlight
'font-lock-multiline t 'help-echo help)))
!(vp (append
! (list 'keymap org-mouse-map 'mouse-face 'highlight
!   'face 'org-link
!   'font-lock-multiline t 'help-echo help)
! ;; Let custom settings override the default.
! custom-attr)))
;; We need to remove the invisible property here.  Table narrowing
;; may have made some of this invisible.
(org-remove-flyspell-overlays-in (match-beginning 0) (match-end 0))
***
*** 5602,5608 
   (if (memq 'tag lk) '(org-activate-tags (1 'org-tag prepend)))
   (if (memq 'angle lk) '(org-activate-angle-links (0 'org-link t)))
   (if (memq 'plain lk) '(org-activate-plain-links))
!  (if (memq 'bracket lk) '(org-activate-bracket-links (0 'org-link t)))
   (if (memq 'radio lk) '(org-activate-target-links (0 'org-link t)))
   (if (memq 'date lk) '(org-activate-dates (0 'org-date t)))
   (if (memq 'footnote lk) '(org-activate-footnote-links))
--- 5619,5625 
   (if (memq 'tag lk) '(org-activate-tags (1 'org-tag prepend)))
   (if (memq 'angle lk) '(org-activate-angle-links (0 'org-link t)))
   (if (memq 'plain lk) '(org-activate-plain-links))
!  (if (memq 'bracket lk) 'org-activate-bracket-links)
   (if (memq 'radio lk) '(org-activate-target-links (0 'org-link t)))
   (if (memq 'date lk) '(org-activate-dates (0 'org-date t)))
   (if (memq 'footnote lk) '(org-activate-footnote-links))
***
*** 8437,8444 

Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-26 Thread Thomas S. Dye
Bastien b...@altern.org writes:

 Hi Tom,

 t...@tsdye.com (Thomas S. Dye) writes:

 Aloha all,

 Perhaps they are [[tag:boxed][already]] here with org-add-link-type?  It
 seems to me that all that's missing is a way to specify a function to
 determine on screen display.  But, I might be missing something.

 just as a quick follow-up: I understand the need.  I will hack
 org-link-protocols so that they can hold a custom face for each
 link type.  But this won't happen for 7.7, only around mid-sept
 if that's okay.

 Thanks again for insisting on this, this will be quite a useful
 addition!

 Best,
Aloha Bastien,

That's great news.  Links are incredibly handy.

All the best,
Tom

-- 
Thomas S. Dye
http://www.tsdye.com



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-26 Thread Christian Moe

+1.

No hurry.

Yours,
Christian

On 7/26/11 5:15 PM, Thomas S. Dye wrote:

Bastienb...@altern.org  writes:


Hi Tom,

t...@tsdye.com (Thomas S. Dye) writes:


Aloha all,

Perhaps they are [[tag:boxed][already]] here with org-add-link-type?  It
seems to me that all that's missing is a way to specify a function to
determine on screen display.  But, I might be missing something.


just as a quick follow-up: I understand the need.  I will hack
org-link-protocols so that they can hold a custom face for each
link type.  But this won't happen for 7.7, only around mid-sept
if that's okay.

Thanks again for insisting on this, this will be quite a useful
addition!

Best,

Aloha Bastien,

That's great news.  Links are incredibly handy.

All the best,
Tom






Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-18 Thread Matt Lundin
Bastien b...@altern.org writes:

 Sebastien Vauban wxhgmqzgw...@spammotel.com writes:

 * !TODO This would be an inline task, not a headline

 I've no clear cut opinion on this right now. Maybe yes, maybe not.
 Though, there are differences between inline tasks and headlines:

 I'm talking about the way they _look_.  So many asterisks looks
 cumbersome to mee, and I'd favor a non-intrusive syntax like the 
 one proposed above.

In my experience, most of the asterisks are made invisible by
org-hide-face. E.g.,

--8---cut here---start-8---
*** TODO A task
Some notes about the task that are not part of the text.
*** END
--8---cut here---end---8---

 My question was: what is the rationale behind using so many asterisks?

 I can think of three things:

 1. people want inline tasks with possibly no TODO keyword

This is often how I use them --- to insert a drawer of notes that is
visible but will not be exported.

Best,
Matt



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-18 Thread Sebastien Vauban
Hi Matt,

Matt Lundin wrote:
 Bastien b...@altern.org writes:
 Sebastien Vauban wxhgmqzgw...@spammotel.com writes:

 * !TODO This would be an inline task, not a headline

 I've no clear cut opinion on this right now. Maybe yes, maybe not.
 Though, there are differences between inline tasks and headlines:

 I'm talking about the way they _look_. So many asterisks looks cumbersome
 to mee, and I'd favor a non-intrusive syntax like the one proposed above.

 In my experience, most of the asterisks are made invisible by
 org-hide-face. E.g.,

 *** TODO A task
   Some notes about the task that are not part of the text.
 *** END

 My question was: what is the rationale behind using so many asterisks?

 I can think of three things:

 1. people want inline tasks with possibly no TODO keyword

 This is often how I use them --- to insert a drawer of notes that is
 visible but will not be exported.

Why do you say it wouldn't be exported just because it has no TODO keyword?
At least, not in the default settings of the export, right?

Best regards,
  Seb

-- 
Sebastien Vauban




Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-18 Thread Sebastien Vauban
Hi Matt,

Matt Lundin wrote:
 In my experience, most of the asterisks are made invisible by
 org-hide-face. E.g.,

 *** TODO A task
   Some notes about the task that are not part of the text.
 *** END

Any idea about the reason to make the first asterisk shine with face
`org-warning'? Could it be `org-hide' face as well?

Best regards,
  Seb

-- 
Sebastien Vauban




Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-18 Thread Matt Lundin
Sebastien Vauban
wxhgmqzgwmuf-genee64ty+gs+fvcfc7...@public.gmane.org writes:


 1. people want inline tasks with possibly no TODO keyword

 This is often how I use them --- to insert a drawer of notes that is
 visible but will not be exported.

 Why do you say it wouldn't be exported just because it has no TODO keyword?
 At least, not in the default settings of the export, right?

Thanks for the clarification. I do indeed have set org-inlinetask-export
to nil. 

While most of my inline tasks have a TODO, some are used merely for
notes. I prefer not to export them in either case.

Best,
Matt



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-18 Thread Bastien
Hi Sébastien,

Sebastien Vauban wxhgmqzgw...@spammotel.com writes:

 Any idea about the reason to make the first asterisk shine with face
 `org-warning'? Could it be `org-hide' face as well?

I guess using the `org-warning' face for the first asterisk of an inline
task helps distinguishing it from normal task.

I'd say it's a feature -- but I'm not an inline-task guru, feel free to
convince me otherwise.

:)

-- 
 Bastien



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-18 Thread Bastien
Hi Florian,

Florian Beck abstrakt...@t-online.de writes:

 Actually, I meant »tags« in the HTML sense. For boxedexample/boxed
 would call a function during export, which returns, say, its LaTeX
 interpretation, another function would be called by font lock (or
 whatever you use) to determine its on screen display. 

Well, I'm not in favor of introducing tag -- they can be convenient,
but they degrade readability IMO.

-- 
 Bastien



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-18 Thread Thomas S. Dye
Bastien b...@altern.org writes:

 Hi Florian,

 Florian Beck abstrakt...@t-online.de writes:

 Actually, I meant »tags« in the HTML sense. For boxedexample/boxed
 would call a function during export, which returns, say, its LaTeX
 interpretation, another function would be called by font lock (or
 whatever you use) to determine its on screen display. 

 Well, I'm not in favor of introducing tag -- they can be convenient,
 but they degrade readability IMO.

Aloha all,

Perhaps they are [[tag:boxed][already]] here with org-add-link-type?  It
seems to me that all that's missing is a way to specify a function to
determine on screen display.  But, I might be missing something.

All the best,
Tom

-- 
Thomas S. Dye
http://www.tsdye.com



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-18 Thread Florian Beck
t...@tsdye.com (Thomas S. Dye) writes:

 Bastien b...@altern.org writes:

 Hi Florian,

 Florian Beck abstrakt...@t-online.de writes:

 Actually, I meant »tags« in the HTML sense. For boxedexample/boxed
 would call a function during export, which returns, say, its LaTeX
 interpretation, another function would be called by font lock (or
 whatever you use) to determine its on screen display. 

 Well, I'm not in favor of introducing tag -- they can be convenient,
 but they degrade readability IMO.

 Aloha all,

 Perhaps they are [[tag:boxed][already]] here with org-add-link-type?  It
 seems to me that all that's missing is a way to specify a function to
 determine on screen display.  

Exactly. I don't care about the specific implementation (and org makes a
lot of my previous uses superflous). TAGs in the above sense – however
implemented – would allow for fine grain control of the output. For
example different classes of footnotes with latex/bogfoot or specific
handling of citations.

Readability is not the issue, imo, because currently my workaround would
be to put the whole paragraph in a latex source block – which certainly
doesn't improve readability. Tagged text, on the other hand, should and
could definity allow for its own on screen display.

What is an issue is that (apart from property/source blocks and
emphasis) org text is pretty much plain. TAGs could impair that.
Currently migrating from muse to org I can certainly attest that any
»special handling« certainly impairs portability.

-- 
Florian Beck



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-16 Thread Bastien
Hi all,

Nicolas Goaziou n.goaz...@gmail.com writes:

 1. people want inline tasks with possibly no TODO keyword
 2. people prefer to detect them *very easily*
 3. changing the syntax of inline tasks from changing todos
(like !TODO) is too complicated code-wise

 4. people do not want to break the main flow of text. By default, the
text in the inline task starts at the 15th column.

Of course, you're right.

 My proposal is this:

 - enforce the use of TODO keywords in inline tasks (wrt 1)

 I think it is an unnecessary restriction. I remember some people use
 inline tasks without even a title (they only write the stars).

Yes.

 IMO, inline tasks are used in two distinct fashions. Obviously, one is
 to use them as tasks. The other one is to use them as marginal notes,
 like drawers with a title. Let's not forget that second category, unless
 we provide an alternative solution for them, i.e. an annotation system.

 - make a special face for inline tasks (wrt 2)

 I think it is a good idea.

Okay, TODO added.

Thanks,

-- 
 Bastien



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-14 Thread Florian Beck
John Hendy jw.he...@gmail.com writes:


 I posted something similar a bit back. I do use org for todos, but
 also write papers/reports, and take notes on things I'm reading. You
 might want to check out that thread. [1] In particular, there were
 some great comments about using inline tasks with custom export
 options (one of them being the todonotes pacakge). [2] [3] Hope that
 offers at least some input.

 I think inline tasks can do what you want -- can be exported or not,
 they stay out of the way, and don't break the flow. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestion, I have to look into the export options.

 ---

 All from the same thread, but I skimmed it and picked these out in particular:

 [1] Top level thread:
 http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40356.html
 [2] Inline tasks suggestion:
 http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40359.html
 [3] Todonotes variant:
 http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40589.html


 John


 --
 Florian Beck





-- 
Florian Beck



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-14 Thread Florian Beck
Bastien b...@altern.org writes:

  2. Tags are SLOW (no doubt due to my 8.5M file). Completion takes
  minutes. I fixed that by adding all my (hundreds of) tags to
  `org-tag-alist' and restricting capture to »%g«, checking only the
  current file. `org-id-find' is slow as well and so will be property
  completions, I guess. How about caching the data and update on saving
  an org-agenda file?

 We might consider this.  

 I doubt updating on saving is the right thing to do -- people tend to
 save very often, and for solving problems like yours, it will be as slow
 as the current interface.

 We need to be more clever in defining the update cycle for caches, and
 this depends on _what_ the cache is containing.

I agree, updating on saving would not work for large files. Maybe you
could use a cache on a per file basis, creating it when org first
happens to collect the data and updating it on demand. Of course, it
might be out of date, which in my case would be no problem.

 You will need to live with it for now.

  4. muse-mode has this nice feature that it easily allows you to define
  your own tags like
  i-am-learning-kanji-so-better-display-this-big…/… or
  a-citation-the-way-i-like-it…/…; not only for export but also for
  fontification. Can I do something similar in org-mode?

 What do you mean?

 What I can think of are tag aliases: for example, the tag :code:
 would be an alias for :code python lisp:.

 The buffer would display the alias.

 Tag search would match the expanded version.

 This adds a semantic layer for tags, so maybe there are complexities
 I cannot think of right now, but I think it might be interesting.

 What do you think?

Actually, I meant »tags« in the HTML sense. For boxedexample/boxed
would call a function during export, which returns, say, its LaTeX
interpretation, another function would be called by font lock (or
whatever you use) to determine its on screen display. That is, the user
has to provide two functions and org mode has to call them at the
appropriate place.


  5. According to the manual »TODO items are an integral part of the
  notes file«. I like that, but I do not find it so. TODO items are
  headings which I find somewhat confusing: My files are either articles
  to be (with the appropriate headlines) or notes where headlines usually
  formulate the topic the note is about. Todo items, on the other hand,
  would be »clarify the paragraph«, »check what X says about Y«, »add
  more sources«, etc. As it is TODOs are not integrated but stand out,
  breaking the structure of the file. How about allowing TODO items in
  comments? This would seem much more natural to me: a TODO item should
  not be part of your text but disappear when it is done.

 As suggested, you want to check inline tasks.

I'll look into it. Thanks for your comments!


 I really don't like the current syntax for inline tasks, I would much
 prefer something like special TODO keywords:

 * !TODO This would be an inline task, not a headline

 But perhaps I'm missing something about why the current inline task
 syntax is useful.  I'd be interested in hearing more by people who are
 actually using them...

 Thanks for your input!

-- 
Florian Beck



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-14 Thread Thomas S. Dye
Florian Beck abstrakt...@t-online.de writes:

 Bastien b...@altern.org writes:

  2. Tags are SLOW (no doubt due to my 8.5M file). Completion takes
  minutes. I fixed that by adding all my (hundreds of) tags to
  `org-tag-alist' and restricting capture to »%g«, checking only the
  current file. `org-id-find' is slow as well and so will be property
  completions, I guess. How about caching the data and update on saving
  an org-agenda file?

 We might consider this.  

 I doubt updating on saving is the right thing to do -- people tend to
 save very often, and for solving problems like yours, it will be as slow
 as the current interface.

 We need to be more clever in defining the update cycle for caches, and
 this depends on _what_ the cache is containing.

 I agree, updating on saving would not work for large files. Maybe you
 could use a cache on a per file basis, creating it when org first
 happens to collect the data and updating it on demand. Of course, it
 might be out of date, which in my case would be no problem.

 You will need to live with it for now.

  4. muse-mode has this nice feature that it easily allows you to define
  your own tags like
  i-am-learning-kanji-so-better-display-this-big…/… or
  a-citation-the-way-i-like-it…/…; not only for export but also for
  fontification. Can I do something similar in org-mode?

 What do you mean?

 What I can think of are tag aliases: for example, the tag :code:
 would be an alias for :code python lisp:.

 The buffer would display the alias.

 Tag search would match the expanded version.

 This adds a semantic layer for tags, so maybe there are complexities
 I cannot think of right now, but I think it might be interesting.

 What do you think?

 Actually, I meant »tags« in the HTML sense. For boxedexample/boxed
 would call a function during export, which returns, say, its LaTeX
 interpretation, another function would be called by font lock (or
 whatever you use) to determine its on screen display. That is, the user
 has to provide two functions and org mode has to call them at the
 appropriate place.

Aloha Florian,

This is partially implemented with Org-mode's link syntax.  See
http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-latex-export.html#sec-10-3 for
an example that defines LaTeX and HTML exports for arbitrary tags.

AFAIK, the link syntax lacks an easy way to change the function for
screen display, but this would be a useful addition to Org-mode.  Then,
it would be a relatively simple matter to provide functions that
differentiate on-screen between links used for different purposes.

There was a discussion along these lines on list some time ago under the
heading text color + highlight.

hth,
Tom



  5. According to the manual »TODO items are an integral part of the
  notes file«. I like that, but I do not find it so. TODO items are
  headings which I find somewhat confusing: My files are either articles
  to be (with the appropriate headlines) or notes where headlines usually
  formulate the topic the note is about. Todo items, on the other hand,
  would be »clarify the paragraph«, »check what X says about Y«, »add
  more sources«, etc. As it is TODOs are not integrated but stand out,
  breaking the structure of the file. How about allowing TODO items in
  comments? This would seem much more natural to me: a TODO item should
  not be part of your text but disappear when it is done.

 As suggested, you want to check inline tasks.

 I'll look into it. Thanks for your comments!


 I really don't like the current syntax for inline tasks, I would much
 prefer something like special TODO keywords:

 * !TODO This would be an inline task, not a headline

 But perhaps I'm missing something about why the current inline task
 syntax is useful.  I'd be interested in hearing more by people who are
 actually using them...

 Thanks for your input!

-- 
Thomas S. Dye
http://www.tsdye.com



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-13 Thread Bastien
Hi Florian,

Florian Beck abstrakt...@t-online.de writes:

 A couple of questions and observations, first impressions really:

  2. Tags are SLOW (no doubt due to my 8.5M file). Completion takes
  minutes. I fixed that by adding all my (hundreds of) tags to
  `org-tag-alist' and restricting capture to »%g«, checking only the
  current file. `org-id-find' is slow as well and so will be property
  completions, I guess. How about caching the data and update on saving
  an org-agenda file?

We might consider this.  

I doubt updating on saving is the right thing to do -- people tend to
save very often, and for solving problems like yours, it will be as slow
as the current interface.

We need to be more clever in defining the update cycle for caches, and
this depends on _what_ the cache is containing.

  3. By default, tags cannot contain spaces or commas. I rectified that
  with an ugly hack in `org-set-tags-to', which replaces spaces with
  ?\x2008 (punctuation space), and setting it to word syntax. Also, many
  long tags display ugly. How about showing only the first twenty
  characters and show the rest via help echo?

You will need to live with it for now.

  4. muse-mode has this nice feature that it easily allows you to define
  your own tags like
  i-am-learning-kanji-so-better-display-this-big…/… or
  a-citation-the-way-i-like-it…/…; not only for export but also for
  fontification. Can I do something similar in org-mode?

What do you mean?

What I can think of are tag aliases: for example, the tag :code:
would be an alias for :code python lisp:.

The buffer would display the alias.

Tag search would match the expanded version.

This adds a semantic layer for tags, so maybe there are complexities
I cannot think of right now, but I think it might be interesting.

What do you think?

  5. According to the manual »TODO items are an integral part of the
  notes file«. I like that, but I do not find it so. TODO items are
  headings which I find somewhat confusing: My files are either articles
  to be (with the appropriate headlines) or notes where headlines usually
  formulate the topic the note is about. Todo items, on the other hand,
  would be »clarify the paragraph«, »check what X says about Y«, »add
  more sources«, etc. As it is TODOs are not integrated but stand out,
  breaking the structure of the file. How about allowing TODO items in
  comments? This would seem much more natural to me: a TODO item should
  not be part of your text but disappear when it is done.

As suggested, you want to check inline tasks.

I really don't like the current syntax for inline tasks, I would much
prefer something like special TODO keywords:

* !TODO This would be an inline task, not a headline

But perhaps I'm missing something about why the current inline task
syntax is useful.  I'd be interested in hearing more by people who are
actually using them...

Thanks for your input!

-- 
 Bastien



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-13 Thread Sebastien Vauban
Hi Bastien,

Bastien wrote:
 As suggested, you want to check inline tasks.

 I really don't like the current syntax for inline tasks, I would much
 prefer something like special TODO keywords:

 * !TODO This would be an inline task, not a headline

I've no clear cut opinion on this right now. Maybe yes, maybe not.

 But perhaps I'm missing something about why the current inline task
 syntax is useful.  I'd be interested in hearing more by people who are
 actually using them...

 Thanks for your input!

Though, there are differences between inline tasks and headlines:

- inline tasks are delimited with an ** END marker (many asterisks)

- hence, they can contain a lot of things inside them:
  + paragraphs
  + lists
  + etc.

I am sure they could somehow be improved, but I already use them a lot for the
big advantage they offer: being tasks, and not breaking the document structure
(not adding levels in your document).

Your proposition would be (very) nice when we don't have to link a note to the
task. Does that mean it should be added?  Does that mean that, then, the notes
could or should be made available thru drawers?

All such questions certainly merit more attention.

Best regards,
  Seb

-- 
Sebastien Vauban




Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-13 Thread Bastien
Hi Sébastien,

Sebastien Vauban wxhgmqzgw...@spammotel.com writes:

 * !TODO This would be an inline task, not a headline

 I've no clear cut opinion on this right now. Maybe yes, maybe not.

:)

 Though, there are differences between inline tasks and headlines:

Yep, I know the differences.

I'm talking about the way they _look_.  So many asterisks looks
cumbersome to mee, and I'd favor a non-intrusive syntax like the 
one proposed above.

My question was: what is the rationale behind using so many asterisks?

I can think of three things:

1. people want inline tasks with possibly no TODO keyword
2. people prefer to detect them *very easily*
3. changing the syntax of inline tasks from changing todos
   (like !TODO) is too complicated code-wise

My proposal is this:

- enforce the use of TODO keywords in inline tasks (wrt 1)
- make a special face for inline tasks (wrt 2)

 Your proposition would be (very) nice when we don't have to link a
 note to the task.

My change would affect the content you can add to inline tasks and 
the way they are treated by exporters.

 All such questions certainly merit more attention.

Sure -- thanks for your input!

-- 
 Bastien



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-13 Thread Sebastien Vauban
Hi Bastien,

Bastien wrote:
 Sebastien Vauban wxhgmqzgw...@spammotel.com writes:
 * !TODO This would be an inline task, not a headline

 I've no clear cut opinion on this right now. Maybe yes, maybe not.

 :)

 Though, there are differences between inline tasks and headlines:

 Yep, I know the differences.

Not intended to you in particular, just to put context around my answer!

 I'm talking about the way they _look_.  So many asterisks looks
 cumbersome to mee, and I'd favor a non-intrusive syntax like the 
 one proposed above.

 My question was: what is the rationale behind using so many asterisks?

That's right there are a lot of them...

 I can think of three things:

 1. people want inline tasks with possibly no TODO keyword

Of course, this is needed as well. Or maybe this is a wrong use of them: to
make things outstand as notes in the produced PDF (with todonotes package, in
my case, for the inline tasks -- or notes then).

 2. people prefer to detect them *very easily*

Yes, for sure.

 3. changing the syntax of inline tasks from changing todos
(like !TODO) is too complicated code-wise

Dunno.

 My proposal is this:

 - enforce the use of TODO keywords in inline tasks (wrt 1)

I'm divided about this, as you can see. Maybe, though, I have to respect the
fact that inline tasks are supposed to be _tasks_ which are inlined.

 - make a special face for inline tasks (wrt 2)

You see we're not far from it, and what I typically use inline tasks for...

http://i.imgur.com/rrI6Q.png

 Your proposition would be (very) nice when we don't have to link a
 note to the task.

 My change would affect the content you can add to inline tasks and 
 the way they are treated by exporters.

 All such questions certainly merit more attention.

 Sure -- thanks for your input!

To be continued...

Best regards,
  Seb

-- 
Sebastien Vauban




Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-13 Thread Nicolas Goaziou
Hello,

Bastien b...@altern.org writes:

 I'm talking about the way they _look_.  So many asterisks looks
 cumbersome to mee, and I'd favor a non-intrusive syntax like the 
 one proposed above.

 My question was: what is the rationale behind using so many asterisks?

 I can think of three things:

 1. people want inline tasks with possibly no TODO keyword
 2. people prefer to detect them *very easily*
 3. changing the syntax of inline tasks from changing todos
(like !TODO) is too complicated code-wise

4. people do not want to break the main flow of text. By default, the
   text in the inline task starts at the 15th column.
  
 My proposal is this:

 - enforce the use of TODO keywords in inline tasks (wrt 1)

I think it is an unnecessary restriction. I remember some people use
inline tasks without even a title (they only write the stars).

IMO, inline tasks are used in two distinct fashions. Obviously, one is
to use them as tasks. The other one is to use them as marginal notes,
like drawers with a title. Let's not forget that second category, unless
we provide an alternative solution for them, i.e. an annotation system.

 - make a special face for inline tasks (wrt 2)

I think it is a good idea.

 Your proposition would be (very) nice when we don't have to link a
 note to the task.

 My change would affect the content you can add to inline tasks and 
 the way they are treated by exporters.

For the record, there is also a degenerated version of inline tasks in
which *** END is optional. Those cannot hold any contents,
though.

Regards,

-- 
Nicolas Goaziou



[O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-12 Thread Florian Beck
[My main goal is to take research notes and write texts. I have little
interest in the todo/agenda part of org-mode, which I understand is its
main focus, so bear this in mind.]

Previously I have been using muse-mode for publishing and a home brew
system for organising my notes. Now I thought, I would give org-mode a
try. I had some 3500 short notes which I converted into a 8.5M org-file
with said 3500 heavily tagged entries. Also created a 500k org file from
my bibtex file. These two plus a couple of shorter files are my
org-agenda-files.

Speed is quite ok, surprisingly. `org-columns' in the big file is a
no-go, of course (overlays!). The agenda commands work fine (I have few
entries with todo-keywords, but they are in every file.)

So far so good. Tables, integration of latex fragments: great stuff. I
like the outlining capabilities but used most of them via
`org-struct-mode' already. Especially impressed with babel. Wow!

A couple of questions and observations, first impressions really:

 1. Publishing (I have only tested pdf) works pretty well. Obviously, or
 so I would have thought, I don't want to see todo-keywords and TAGs in
 the output. How do I get rid of them?

 2. Tags are SLOW (no doubt due to my 8.5M file). Completion takes
 minutes. I fixed that by adding all my (hundreds of) tags to
 `org-tag-alist' and restricting capture to »%g«, checking only the
 current file. `org-id-find' is slow as well and so will be property
 completions, I guess. How about caching the data and update on saving
 an org-agenda file?

 3. By default, tags cannot contain spaces or commas. I rectified that
 with an ugly hack in `org-set-tags-to', which replaces spaces with
 ?\x2008 (punctuation space), and setting it to word syntax. Also, many
 long tags display ugly. How about showing only the first twenty
 characters and show the rest via help echo?

 4. muse-mode has this nice feature that it easily allows you to define
 your own tags like
 i-am-learning-kanji-so-better-display-this-big…/… or
 a-citation-the-way-i-like-it…/…; not only for export but also for
 fontification. Can I do something similar in org-mode?

 5. According to the manual »TODO items are an integral part of the
 notes file«. I like that, but I do not find it so. TODO items are
 headings which I find somewhat confusing: My files are either articles
 to be (with the appropriate headlines) or notes where headlines usually
 formulate the topic the note is about. Todo items, on the other hand,
 would be »clarify the paragraph«, »check what X says about Y«, »add
 more sources«, etc. As it is TODOs are not integrated but stand out,
 breaking the structure of the file. How about allowing TODO items in
 comments? This would seem much more natural to me: a TODO item should
 not be part of your text but disappear when it is done.

-- 
Florian Beck



Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-12 Thread John Hendy
On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 2:55 PM, Florian Beck abstrakt...@t-online.de wrote:
 [My main goal is to take research notes and write texts. I have little
 interest in the todo/agenda part of org-mode, which I understand is its
 main focus, so bear this in mind.]

Snipped 1-4, as I don't have anything to add...

  5. According to the manual »TODO items are an integral part of the
  notes file«. I like that, but I do not find it so. TODO items are
  headings which I find somewhat confusing: My files are either articles
  to be (with the appropriate headlines) or notes where headlines usually
  formulate the topic the note is about. Todo items, on the other hand,
  would be »clarify the paragraph«, »check what X says about Y«, »add
  more sources«, etc. As it is TODOs are not integrated but stand out,
  breaking the structure of the file. How about allowing TODO items in
  comments? This would seem much more natural to me: a TODO item should
  not be part of your text but disappear when it is done.

I posted something similar a bit back. I do use org for todos, but
also write papers/reports, and take notes on things I'm reading. You
might want to check out that thread. [1] In particular, there were
some great comments about using inline tasks with custom export
options (one of them being the todonotes pacakge). [2] [3] Hope that
offers at least some input.

I think inline tasks can do what you want -- can be exported or not,
they stay out of the way, and don't break the flow. Good luck!

---

All from the same thread, but I skimmed it and picked these out in particular:

[1] Top level thread:
http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40356.html
[2] Inline tasks suggestion:
http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40359.html
[3] Todonotes variant:
http://www.mail-archive.com/emacs-orgmode@gnu.org/msg40589.html


John


 --
 Florian Beck





Re: [O] Using org-mode for Research and Notetaking

2011-07-12 Thread Giovanni Ridolfi
Florian Beck abstrakt...@t-online.de writes:

Hi, Florian,

My org version is:
Org-mode version 7.5 311b09d92644f39040087327d6a1dbeb09a9ab6e

 I don't want to see todo-keywords and TAGs in
  the output. How do I get rid of them?
In the manual,

Export options.
#+OPTIONS:  todo: nil

manual explanation:

#+OPTIONS:  todo:   turn on/off inclusion of TODO keywords into exported 
text
tags:turn on/off inclusion of tags, may also be  
`not-in-toc'

 How about caching the data and update on saving
  an org-agenda file?

Bastien just said:
 I've never been a big fan of caching Org files information, because Org
  files are often modified in impredictible ways.  But if we can update
  the cache quickly, then it will certainly be useful.

  However it will stress the disk.


  3. By default, tags cannot contain spaces or commas. 
yes, but you can use underscore: _

[...]
 a TODO item should
  not be part of your text but disappear when it is done.

you can archive the task/headline, when it is done.

cheers,
Giovanni