zsh: learning notes (pbnote function)

Learning zsh in public, pbnote function.

pbnote function - dev notes

pbnote - insert (macos) clipboard into note

note entry template (array or text):

If I use a text template for a note entry, lines with empty content end up becoming extra empty lines.

E.g.:

local template=$(cat <<- "EOF"
    ✏️  [$(date)] ${title}
    ${input}
    ${pasted}
    EOF
    )

The output is:

✏️  [Thu Sep 28 13:15:24 CDT 2023]

good morning, geek

I think I’ll try an array (again), using the eval method , a variation of this:

eval "print \"${template}\""

Solved!

# assemble lines to be inserted
local output
local item_sep='' # no separator before 1st line
for item in $note_format
do
    line=$(eval "print -- \"${item}\"")
    [[ -n "$line" ]] \
        && output="${output}"${item_sep}$(eval "print -- \"${line}\"")
    item_sep='\n'
done
print $output >> ${note_home}/${note_name}

error - command not found: compdef

The source file for note and pbnote, ${ZDOTDIR}/functions/note, is sourced by the pbnote command in ~/.local/bin. Called from less (which is why I set it up that way), it works but generates a couple of errors:

!pbnote
/Users/heath/.zsh.d/functions/note:75: command not found: compdef
/Users/heath/.zsh.d/functions/note:112: command not found: compdef
!done  (press RETURN)

Incomplete solution

The temporary solution is to declare completions for note/pbnote in .zshrc, e.g.:

note                               # init note function
compdef '_path_files -W "${NOTE_HOME:-${HOME}/notes/}" -g "^.*"' note

next step

The real solution is to learn more about the zsh completions system, starting here:

• zsh completions how-to (gist).

next considerations

• considering changing the default behavior to not use the clipboard. Perhaps a -v switch to paste.
• perhaps divide the note template (poorly named name_format for now) into sections so the HEADER section can be suppressed.
• ultimately, it would be nice to be able to, via an option, append a note with as few newlines as possible, e.g. {thing} {thing} {thing}
• sorta want some header icon options too.