Metadata-Version: 1.1
Name: zettels
Version: 0.5.0
Summary: A command line tool implementing Luhmann's system of a "Zettelkasten".
Home-page: https://github.com/sthesing/Zettels
Author: Stefan Thesing
Author-email: software@webdings.de
License: GPLv3+
Description: Zettels
        =======
        
        Zettels is a command line tool implementing Niklas Luhmann's system of a
        "Zettelkasten".
        
        It's still in alpha stage and probably very buggy.
        
        What does Zettels do?
        ---------------------
        
        Zettels is a command line tool to index markdown files (your zettels).
        It reads YAML-metadata blocks as defined by
        `pandoc <http://pandoc.org/MANUAL.html#extension-yaml_metadata_block>`__
        and also parses the `markdown
        hyperlinks <https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/syntax#link>`__
        in each file.
        
        The resulting index contains the metadata and the targets of the
        hyperlinks.
        
        Have a look at the files in ``examples/Zettelkasten`` and
        ``examples/index.yaml`` to get a better idea.
        
        Zettels can also be used to query the index. The output can then be
        piped to other tools (like grep or as arguments for the text editor of
        your choice).
        
        It's intended to be used for a "Zettelkasten" like Niklas Luhmann used
        it.
        
        What the heck is a Zettelkasten?
        --------------------------------
        
        "Zettel" is German for "note" or "slip of paper". "Kasten" is German for
        "box". Think of old style library catalogues.
        
        Obviously, this piece of software is not a box of paper sheets. However,
        `Niklas Luhmann <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niklas_Luhmann>`__ used
        such a box in a very specific way for his academic work.
        
        A wonderful introduction in Luhmann's system of a Zettelkasten are the
        slides of a talk by Daniel Lüdecke: `Introduction to Luhmann's
        Zettelkasten-Thinking <https://strengejacke.wordpress.com/2015/10/07/introduction-to-luhmanns-zettelkasten-thinking-and-its-technical-implementation/>`__
        
        In Luhmann's own words: `Communicating with Slip
        Boxes <http://luhmann.surge.sh/communicating-with-slip-boxes>`__
        (translation of "Kommunikation mit Zettelkästen").
        
        If you speak German, there's more:
        
        -  Luhmann, Niklas (1981): Kommunikation mit Zettelkästen. Ein
           Erfahrungsbericht. in: H. Baier / H.M. Kepplinger / K. Reumann
           (Eds.), Öffentliche Meinung und sozialer Wandel. Opladen:
           Westdeutscher Verlag. pp. 22-28
        -  Daniel Lüdecke: `Luhmanns Arbeitsweise im elektronischen
           Zettelkasten <https://strengejacke.wordpress.com/2015/09/08/luhmanns-arbeitsweise-im-elektronischen-zettelkasten/>`__
        -  Thomas Schlesinger: `Wissen konservieren und kuratieren mit dem
           Zettelkasten nach Niklas
           Luhmann <http://www.schlesisblog.de/2016/09/wissen-konservieren-und-kuratieren-mit.html>`__
        -  Universität Bielefeld: Video - `Einblicke in das System der Zettel -
           Geheimnis um Niklas Luhmanns
           Zettelkasten <https://youtu.be/4veq2i3teVk>`__
        
        What, no GUI?
        -------------
        
        True. A GUI for querying the index would be nice. However, as such,
        Zettels doesn't provide one. It is intended to be used in a toolchain of
        UNIX-tools.
        
        I myself edit my Zettelkasten in my favourite text editor and have
        created a little module that allows me to query its index from there.
        So, if you use Textadept or don't care which text editor you use, have a
        look at `ta-zettels <https://github.com/sthesing/ta-zettels>`__.
        
        Alternatives
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        If you're looking for a GUI, all-in-one approach to implementing
        Luhmann's idea into software, I can recommend Daniel Lüdecke's
        `Zettelkasten <http://zettelkasten.danielluedecke.de/>`__
        (sjPlot/Zettelkasten).
        
        Installation and setup
        ----------------------
        
        1. Install using pip (or pip3, depending on your OS):
           ``pip install zettels``
        2. Run ``zettels --setup`` – follow the interactive setup process
        3. Run ``zettels -su`` once to initially build the index.
        
        Usage
        -----
        
        Run ``zettels -h`` for a complete list of options. Some examples:
        
        Build or update the index:
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        ::
        
            zettels -su
        
        Shorthand for ``--silentupdate``
        
        Querying the index
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        Show a list of all zettels:
        
        ::
        
            zettels
        
        Show a list of all zettels, but update the index first:
        
        ::
        
            zettels -u
        
        Show info about a specific zettel, e.g. file1.md:
        
        ::
        
            zettels file1.md
        
        Show info about two zettels, e.g. file1.md and file2.md:
        
        ::
        
            zettels file1.md file2.md
        
        Show a list of followups of a specific zettel, e.g. file1.md:
        
        ::
        
            zettels -f file1.md
        
        Show a list of zettels a specific zettel links to, e.g. file1.md:
        
        ::
        
            zettels -l file1.md
        
        Show a list of zettels linking to a specific zettel, e.g. file1.md:
        
        ::
        
            zettels -i file1.md
        
        And finally, a bit of fun with pipes: Let's say you want to see which
        zettels apart from file1.md itself link to the followups of file1.md:
        
        ::
        
            zettels -f file1.md | zettels -i | grep -v file1.md
        
        Try it with example data
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        
        Run e.g.
        
        ::
        
            zettels -s examples/zettels.cfg.yaml examples/Zettelkasten/file1.md
        
        Zettel format
        -------------
        
        Zettels doesn't require your markdown files to have a metadata block.
        But to be really effective parts of your Zettelkasten, a YAML metadata
        block containing an entry for ``title``, ``tags`` and ``followups`` is
        necessary.
        
        .. code:: yaml
        
            ---
            title:  'Example Zettel'
            tags: [example, question]
            followups: [file.md, subdir/anotherfile.md, ../yetanotherfile.md]
            ...
        
        Entries in ``followups`` should be relative to the zettel. The same is
        true for hyperlinks in the zettel body. The metadata block may contain a
        variety of other entries (e.g. ``author``, ``date``) – maybe for other
        tools, like pandoc – but those other entries are ignored by Zettels and
        do not become part of Zettels' index.
        
        Output format
        -------------
        
        The output can be tweaked to your needs. In the settings file (default:
        ~/.config/zettels.cfg.yaml), you'll find two settings:
        
        -  ``outputformat`` - standard format
        -  ``prettyformat`` - used when Zettels is called with the ``--pretty``
           flag
        
        These output formats are given as `Python Format
        Strings <https://docs.python.org/3.6/library/string.html#format-string-syntax>`__.
        Query output consists of two fields that these format strings can
        process:
        
        ::
        
            1. title - accessible by `'{0[0]}'`
            2. path (relative to the Zettelkasten directory) - accessible by `'{0[1]}'`
        
        By default the formats are:
        
        ::
        
            outputformat: '{0[1]}'
            prettyformat: '{0[0]:<40}| {0[1]}'
        
        Standard ``outputformat`` just outputs the path(s) of the query results,
        ``prettyformat`` is a pseudo-table with the title(s) of the query result
        in the first column (which is at least 40 characters wide), and the
        path(s) in the second column.
        
        The output format can also be tweaked on a per call basis with the
        ``-o`` flag, that takes a custom output format.
        
        See the `Python Format String
        Syntax <https://docs.python.org/3.6/library/string.html#format-string-syntax>`__
        for details.
        
        Requirements
        ------------
        
        -  Python 3.x
        -  `grep <https://www.gnu.org/software/grep/>`__ – Your Python runtime
           must be able to find and execute grep.
        -  `PyYaml <http://pyyaml.org/>`__
        -  `pathspec <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pathspec>`__>=0.5.0
        
Keywords: notetaking zettelkasten
Platform: UNKNOWN
Classifier: Development Status :: 3 - Alpha
Classifier: Intended Audience :: Science/Research
Classifier: Intended Audience :: Education
Classifier: Topic :: Text Processing :: Indexing
Classifier: Topic :: Other/Nonlisted Topic
Classifier: License :: OSI Approved :: GNU General Public License v3 or later (GPLv3+)
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.3
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.4
Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3.5
