use consult for `denote-link-insert-*`

[JonatanSahar]

Hi, I'm really loving denote so far, and super impressed with all the work you've put into all of your packages, so thanks! I was wondering if there's a way to use consult, possibly leveraging consult-notes for getting a nicer interface to inserting links - I don't ever have a reason to see the actual filenames of notes, as they are quite clunky and hard to read at a glance. I looked around the code a bit, and it looks lioke there's a denotes-specific function that populates the list.. as I'm not so proficient with elisp, I can't go much further than this :)

[protesilaos]

Hello @JonatanSahar!

In principle, consult-notes or anything consult related can be used for this task. I still want to experiment with consult-notes but have not found the chance to do so. If an existing user reads this, maybe they have an idea on how to go about providing this facility.

[relict007]

@JonatanSahar I have something simple and very hackish that may work for you. I am not very good at elisp.

(defun rlct/denote--pretty-format-filename (file)
    (let* (
           (title (denote-retrieve-filename-title file))
           (keywords (denote-extract-keywords-from-path file))
           (keywords-as-string (mapconcat 'identity keywords ", "))
           )
      (concat title "      " "(" keywords-as-string ")" )
      )
    )
  
  (defun rlct/denote--find-file-with-pretty-format (&optional initial-text)
    (interactive)
    (let* (
           (paths (mapcar #'(lambda (file)
                              (cons (rlct/denote--pretty-format-filename file) file))
                          (denote-directory-files)))
           (filename (cdr (assoc (completing-read "Select a file: " paths  nil t) paths)))
           )
      filename
      )
    )


  (defun rlct/denote-link()
    (interactive)
    (let ((denote-file-prompt 'rlct/denote--find-file-with-pretty-format))
      (advice-add 'denote-file-prompt :around denote-file-prompt)
      )
    (call-interactively 'denote-link)
    (advice-remove 'denote-file-prompt 'rlct/denote--find-file-with-pretty-format)
    )

Instead of calling denote-link, you can call rlct/denote-link which shows better formatted titles and keywords. You can customize rlct/denote--pretty-format-filename function to make it whatever way you like (add colors, faces etc). I use Vertico, Consult and so on family of packages and completing-read works well for me.

consult-notes uses denote-retrieve-title-value also to get "true" titles from the file, however, in my setup with 600+ notes I found it to be slow (understandably). Hence, I am just using denote-retrieve-filename-title which just converts the filename into something better looking and doesn't read the actual titles from the files. You can use denote-retrieve-title-value if you really want to.

[JonatanSahar]

That look great, thanks! I'll have a go with it.

On Sun, Mar 26, 2023, 16:18 relict007 @.***> wrote:

@JonatanSahar https://github.com/JonatanSahar I have something simple and very hackish that may work for you. I am not very good at elisp.

(defun rlct/denote--pretty-format-filename (file) (let* ( (title (denote-retrieve-filename-title file)) (keywords (denote-extract-keywords-from-path file)) (keywords-as-string (mapconcat 'identity keywords ", ")) ) (concat title " " "(" keywords-as-string ")" ) ) )

(defun rlct/denote--find-file-with-pretty-format (&optional initial-text) (interactive) (let* ( (paths (mapcar #'(lambda (file) (cons (rlct/denote--pretty-format-filename file) file)) (denote-directory-files))) (filename (cdr (assoc (completing-read "Select a file: " paths nil t) paths))) ) filename ) )

(defun rlct/denote-link() (interactive) (let ((denote-file-prompt 'rlct/denote--find-file-with-pretty-format)) (advice-add 'denote-file-prompt :around denote-file-prompt) ) (call-interactively 'denote-link) (advice-remove 'denote-file-prompt 'rlct/denote--find-file-with-pretty-format) )

Instead of calling denote-link, you can call rlct/denote-link which shows better formatted titles and keywords. You can customize rlct/denote--pretty-format-filename function to make it whatever way you like (add colors, faces etc). I use Vertico, Consult and so on family of packages and completing-read works well for me.

consult-notes uses denote-retrieve-title-value also to get "true" titles from the file, however, in my setup with 600+ notes I found it to be slow (understandably). Hence, I am just using denote-retrieve-filename-title which just converts the filename into something better looking and doesn't read the actual titles from the files. You can use denote-retrieve-title-value if you really want to.

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[relict007]

Just an update on my previous comment.

however, in my setup with 600+ notes I found it to be slow (understandably).

I just tested with the latest consult-notes and its not slow anymore. I will check its source again and see if something has changed.

[JonatanSahar]

Hi! There's some bug with the code which prevents the creation of a new note when entering a new name - I get [match required] instead of [confirm] when I use your code to wrap around denote-link-or-create like so:

  (defun my/denote-link-or-create()
    (interactive)
    (let ((denote-file-prompt 'my/denote--find-file-with-pretty-format))
      (advice-add 'denote-file-prompt :around denote-file-prompt)
      )
    (call-interactively 'denote-link-or-create)
    (advice-remove 'denote-file-prompt 'my/denote--find-file-with-pretty-format)
    )

Which also persists when I call denote-link-or-create directly - even though the advice is removed...

[relict007]

@JonatanSahar Thanks for updating the code. I actually never tried creating a new note that way. My work-flow is mostly through org-capture.

[protesilaos]

Hello again folks! I am closing this issue as it cannot be acted upon here. If/when my arm gets better and I can type longer I will consider working on this as a separate package. Thank you!