NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[cage]

Hi!

I would like to see annotate.el

https://github.com/bastibe/annotate.el

included in NonGNU elpa, i have read the README on savannah:

https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs/nongnu.git/plain/README.org

And i think the package is eligible  for inclusion but i still can not
understand  where  to make  the  proposal,  then  some person  on  IRC
suggested me to send my proposal here.

Many thanks in advance!
C.

PS: Please send any reply also to my email as I have not subscribed to the
mailing list.

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2022 13:29:38 +0100
> From: cage <cage-dev@twistfold.it>
> 
> Hi!
> 
> I would like to see annotate.el
> 
> https://github.com/bastibe/annotate.el
> 
> included in NonGNU elpa

FWIW, I wish Emacs had in core a mode that would allow adding notes
(a.k.a. "annotations") to files, which (a) didn't use overlays that
display in the text area, but instead displayed the notes in the
margin and/or in tooltips; and (b) would save the notes of FILE into a
FILE.notes file, not into a single DB under the user's home directory.
I think it would be a very useful feature that every text-processing
package should have built-in.

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[cage]

On Sun, Jan 30, 2022 at 04:53:00PM +0200, Eli Zaretskii wrote:

Hi!

> >
> > https://github.com/bastibe/annotate.el

[...]

> FWIW, I wish Emacs had in core a mode that would allow adding notes
> (a.k.a. "annotations") to files, which (a) didn't use overlays that
> display in the text area, but instead displayed the notes in the
> margin and/or in tooltips;

If  i understand  correctly the  package can  someway already  use the
tooltips setting  a customizable variable;  in this case  the property
'help-echo'  of the  overlay  is setted  and a  tooltip  is shown  (if
tooltip-mode is enabled).

I like the idea to use the margin!

> and (b) would save the notes of FILE into a
> FILE.notes file, not into a single DB under the user's home directory.

I find useful  to have the annotations in  centralized database, some
persons save  the database  in a  network accessible  file system (even
using TRAMP!), to share it on multiple machines.

Bye an thanks for the suggestions!
C.

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[Stefan Monnier]

> FWIW, I wish Emacs had in core a mode that would allow adding notes
> (a.k.a. "annotations") to files, which (a) didn't use overlays that
> display in the text area, but instead displayed the notes in the
> margin and/or in tooltips; and (b) would save the notes of FILE into a
> FILE.notes file, not into a single DB under the user's home directory.
> I think it would be a very useful feature that every text-processing
> package should have built-in.

Note that beside this `annotate.el` that's also `org-remark.el` recently
added to `elpa.git` which offers similar functionality, but similarly
suffers from the use of absolute file names to connect the notes and
the file.


        Stefan

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
> Cc: cage <cage-dev@twistfold.it>,  emacs-devel@gnu.org
> Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2022 12:20:32 -0500
> 
> > FWIW, I wish Emacs had in core a mode that would allow adding notes
> > (a.k.a. "annotations") to files, which (a) didn't use overlays that
> > display in the text area, but instead displayed the notes in the
> > margin and/or in tooltips; and (b) would save the notes of FILE into a
> > FILE.notes file, not into a single DB under the user's home directory.
> > I think it would be a very useful feature that every text-processing
> > package should have built-in.
> 
> Note that beside this `annotate.el` that's also `org-remark.el` recently
> added to `elpa.git` which offers similar functionality, but similarly
> suffers from the use of absolute file names to connect the notes and
> the file.

Yes, I'm aware of that.  I guess people are happy with this situation.

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[Noboru Ota]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
>> Cc: cage <cage-dev@twistfold.it>,  emacs-devel@gnu.org
>> Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2022 12:20:32 -0500
>> 
>> Note that beside this `annotate.el` that's also `org-remark.el` recently
>> added to `elpa.git` which offers similar functionality, but similarly
>> suffers from the use of absolute file names to connect the notes and
>> the file.
>
> Yes, I'm aware of that.  I guess people are happy with this situation.

This is the first feedback on links between files for Org-remark in its
1+ years of existence; so thank you.

I was OK with absolute file names as I don't move them around much.

Could I ask you to give me a little more detail as to why you find
absolute file names problematic for you, please?

Before your feedback, I had already had a work-in-progress
version. Reflecting your comments, I have added the following user
options:

1. For linking from main file to its annotation file, it can be either a
   string (default) or function (new). If you choose the function option,
   the default function lets you save the notes of FILE into FILE-notes.org

2. For linking from an annotation file back to a main file, it can be a
   relative path (new default), abbreviate absolute path, or other to
   specify a function

I have just merged the changes to the main branch in GitHub -- it should
soon make its way to ELPA-devel.  I will leave it there for now to see
if I broke anything before I bump up the version to release the package
to ELPA as version 1.

Thank you again for your feedback.

Noboru

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[Ihor Radchenko]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

> Note that beside this `annotate.el` that's also `org-remark.el` recently
> added to `elpa.git` which offers similar functionality, but similarly
> suffers from the use of absolute file names to connect the notes and
> the file.

FYI, we are currently testing an experimental persistent cache library
in Org mode (org-persist.el). It is capable of tracking files not only
by absolute file names, but also by contents hash and inode.

Best,
Ihor

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[Richard Stallman]

[[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]

  > FWIW, I wish Emacs had in core a mode that would allow adding notes
  > (a.k.a. "annotations") to files, which (a) didn't use overlays that
  > display in the text area, but instead displayed the notes in the
  > margin and/or in tooltips; and (b) would save the notes of FILE into a
  > FILE.notes file, not into a single DB under the user's home directory.
  > I think it would be a very useful feature that every text-processing
  > package should have built-in.

I second that.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman (https://stallman.org)
Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project (https://gnu.org)
Founder, Free Software Foundation (https://fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (https://internethalloffame.org)

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[Uwe Brauer]

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>>> "EZ" == Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2022 13:29:38 +0100
>> From: cage <cage-dev@twistfold.it>
>> 
>> Hi!
>> 
>> I would like to see annotate.el
>> 
>> https://github.com/bastibe/annotate.el
>> 
>> included in NonGNU elpa

> FWIW, I wish Emacs had in core a mode that would allow adding notes
> (a.k.a. "annotations") to files, which (a) didn't use overlays that
> display in the text area, but instead displayed the notes in the
> margin and/or in tooltips; and (b) would save the notes of FILE into a
> FILE.notes file, not into a single DB under the user's home directory.
> I think it would be a very useful feature that every text-processing
> package should have built-in.


There is virtual-comment, that seems to come close to requirement b)
but it uses overlays.

The interesting part is that the package  discusses other solutions, but alas, I think all
use overlays

The problem with all these solutions is that they are not very stable
and soon or later the associated file .notes file gets corrupted.

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Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[Stefan Monnier]

> I would like to see annotate.el
> https://github.com/bastibe/annotate.el
> included in NonGNU elpa, i have read the README on savannah:

According to the Git history, it seems you're basically the sole
contributor to this package.  So even better than NonGNU ELPA would be
to add it to GNU ELPA since there's no need to track down lots of
contributors to get their copyright paperwork.

IOW, would you be willing to sign the copyright paperwork so we can add
this to GNU ELPA?  If so, please fill the form below and send it as
instructed to the FSF so they can send you the relevant paperwork
to sign.


        Stefan


Please email the following information to assign@gnu.org, and we
will send you the assignment form for your past and future changes.

Please use your full legal name (in ASCII characters) as the subject
line of the message.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
REQUEST: SEND FORM FOR PAST AND FUTURE CHANGES

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Even if that material is free software, we need to know about it.]


[Do you have an employer who might have a basis to claim to own
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[Which files have you changed so far, and which new files have you written
so far?]

Re: NonGNU ELPA proposal: annotate-mode

[cage]

On Sun, Jan 30, 2022 at 12:18:29PM -0500, Stefan Monnier wrote:

Hi!

> > I would like to see annotate.el
> > https://github.com/bastibe/annotate.el
> > included in NonGNU elpa, i have read the README on savannah:
>
> According to the Git history, it seems you're basically the sole
> contributor to this package.  So even better than NonGNU ELPA would be
> to add it to GNU ELPA since there's no need to track down lots of
> contributors to get their copyright paperwork.

I would love to see the package in  GNU ELPA but i am afraid i can not
because even if i  am the major contributor so far, i  am not the only
one (non trivial  portion of code from the maintainer  is still there)
and, moreover,  for legal reasons, i  need to assign the  copyright of
this work to my employer (that's what the legal team of the university
told me).

I could talk with  my employer about giving me the  chance to sign the
copyright assignment and with the  current maintainer to do the same,
but this would take time and honestly i do not know if i succeed.

So i prefer to decline your  invite and kind ask considering including
the package in NonGNU for the moment.

Thanks!
C.