org-remember templates with dynamic target headline

org-remember templates with dynamic target headline

[Daniel J. Sinder]

I want a remember template that will have a target headline based on the 
date on which I call org-remember.

For a simple example, the effect I'd like to achieve is shown by putting 
the following in my .emacs:

(setq org-remember-templates
       `(("Journal" ?j "* %u %?\n" "~/org/wjournal.org" 
,(format-time-string "%G: Week %V"))))

I'm an elisp noob, but I realize the problem here is that 
format-time-string is only evaluated once when my .emacs is read.  So, 
unless I restart emacs every week.  This doesn't work.

How can I cause format-time-string to be re-evaluated whenever 
org-remember is called?

Thanks,
Dan

Re: org-remember templates with dynamic target headline

[Nick Dokos]

Daniel J. Sinder <djsinder@gmail.com> wrote:

> I want a remember template that will have a target headline based on
> the date on which I call org-remember.
> 
> For a simple example, the effect I'd like to achieve is shown by
> putting the following in my .emacs:
> 
> (setq org-remember-templates
>       `(("Journal" ?j "* %u %?\n" "~/org/wjournal.org"
> ,(format-time-string "%G: Week %V"))))
> 
> I'm an elisp noob, but I realize the problem here is that
> format-time-string is only evaluated once when my .emacs is read.  So,
> unless I restart emacs every week.  This doesn't work.
> 
> How can I cause format-time-string to be re-evaluated whenever
> org-remember is called?
> 

You cannot, unless you change the code. Keith Swartz had a similar
question recently and although I cannot find it in the Gmane archive
(second time today - maybe I'm doing something wrong), here is the last
part of the thread:

,----
| To: Robert Goldman <rpgoldman@sift.info>
| cc: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
| From: Nick Dokos <nicholas.dokos@hp.com>
| Cc: nicholas.dokos@hp.com
| Reply-to: nicholas.dokos@hp.com
| Subject: Re: [Orgmode] Re: Emacs-orgmode Digest, Vol 39, Issue 122 
| X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.2; GNU Emacs 23.0.93
| Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 15:39:40 -0400
| Sender: nick@gamaville.dokosmarshall.org
| 
| Robert Goldman <rpgoldman@sift.info> wrote:
| 
| > > Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 23:24:58 -0700
| > > From: Keith Swartz <gnu@oneroad.com>
| > > Subject: [Orgmode] Lazy evaluation when defining org-remember-template
| > > To: "[orgmode]" <emacs-orgmode@gnu.org>
| > > Message-ID: <4A20D13A.2000603@oneroad.com>
| > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
| > > 
| > > ...
| > > 
| > > Is there a way I can make that command evaluate at the time it is 
| > > invoked, rather than when it is defined? I vaguely recall doing 
| > > something like this, but that was five job roles, three houses, two 
| > > recessions, and two kids ago. :)
| > > 
| > 
| > I can't swear that this will work, but note that the way you have
| > written this, it will all be evaluated at load time, as you say.  the
| > 'list' function will evaluate its arguments to build the list.
| > 
| > Now, if you don't want this to be evaluated when org-remember-templates
| > is set, you can quote the form:
| > 
| > '(format-time-string "%A")
| > 
| > [note that you quoted the argument to format-time-string.  I don't
| > believe that's necessary, since strings evaluate to themselves, but I
| > have not tested this.]
| > 
| > Actually, I think you would get something easier to read if you quoted
| > the whole list, instead of quoting each element.  Something like:
| > 
| > (list '("Todo" ?t "* TODO %?%^{To do} %^g\n  :LOGBOOK:\n  -
| > Added: %U\n  :END:" "d:/tmp/_my.todo" (format-time-string "%A"))))
| > 
| 
| That's correct.
| 
| > The question then is, "what happens when org-remember-templates is
| > retrieved?"  What you want is for this function to be evaluated when the
| > templates are found and used.  That will be done by
| > org-remember-apply-template, which we can examine....
| > 
| > Unfortunately, I don't see in there anything which retrieves (nth 4
| > entry), which is the place where your format-time-string goes, so I'm
| > not sure what is handling this.  It's a little confusing reading that
| > function's code, since "headline" is ambiguous between whether it means
| > the headline of the remember note to be inserted or the headline under
| > which to insert the note...  I believe it's the former.
| > 
| 
| It's the latter.
| 
| You can figure out things like this fairly quickly by inserting a
| (debug) at the appropriate place, and re-evaluating the defun. When the
| function gets called, it will jump into the debugger when it evals the
| (debug) form, and you can use the full power of lisp to examine
| state. For example, here I defined the template the way you suggested,
| placed a (debug) in org-remember-apply-template, just after the
| insertion of the template in the remember buffer, re-evaluated the defun
| (there is an eval-defun, but I prefer to do that by going to the end of
| the defun - which I can do quickly: repeat M-C-u until I'm at the
| beginning of the defun and M-C-f to move over the whole defun - and then
| C-x C-e to eval the last sexpression.)
| 
| I then call org-remember and in the resulting debug buffer, say
| 
|   e headline<RET>
| 
| which says 
| 
| (format-time-string "%A")
| 
|   e entry<RET>
| 
| which says
| 
| ("* TODO %?%^{To do} %^g
|   :LOGBOOK:
|   - 
| Added: %U
|   :END:" (quote "d:/tmp/_my.todo") (format-time-string "%A"))
| 
| Now you can see that the headline is the third element of this list
| (i.e. (nth 2 entry) - the numbering starts from 0).
| 
| > Perhaps someone else can figure this out, or perhaps you could just try
| > quoting the list and seeing if it works to evaluate the
| > format-time-string when you want it to.  Org usually does The Right Thing.
| > 
| But even org cannot perform miracles !-) Somebody has to "force the thunk"
| in order for delayed evaluation to work. You'd need something like this 
| patch:
| 
| --- a/lisp/org-remember.el
| +++ b/lisp/org-remember.el
| @@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ to be run from that hook to function properly."
|  				(functionp (nth 1 entry))))
|  		       (nth 1 entry)
|  		     org-default-notes-file))
| -	     (headline (nth 2 entry))
| +	     (headline (eval (nth 2 entry)))
|  	     (v-c (and (> (length kill-ring) 0) (current-kill 0)))
|  	     (v-x (or (org-get-x-clipboard 'PRIMARY)
|  		      (org-get-x-clipboard 'CLIPBOARD)
| 
| This should work in simple cases (in particular, because the headline is
| a string and strings evaluate to themselves, so it should not adversely affect
| any existing template), but I certainly have not thought about repercussions
| (including the possibility of *very* obscure bugs because somebody mistyped
| something in the template - that would be a maintenance nightmare that Carsten
| might not be willing to take on).
| 
| Thanks,
| Nick
`----

HTH,
Nick

Re: org-remember templates with dynamic target headline

[Carsten Dominik]

On Jun 17, 2009, at 8:20 AM, Nick Dokos wrote:

> Daniel J. Sinder <djsinder@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I want a remember template that will have a target headline based on
>> the date on which I call org-remember.
>>
>> For a simple example, the effect I'd like to achieve is shown by
>> putting the following in my .emacs:
>>
>> (setq org-remember-templates
>>      `(("Journal" ?j "* %u %?\n" "~/org/wjournal.org"
>> ,(format-time-string "%G: Week %V"))))
>>
>> I'm an elisp noob, but I realize the problem here is that
>> format-time-string is only evaluated once when my .emacs is read.   
>> So,
>> unless I restart emacs every week.  This doesn't work.
>>
>> How can I cause format-time-string to be re-evaluated whenever
>> org-remember is called?
>>
>
> You cannot, unless you change the code. Keith Swartz had a similar
> question recently and although I cannot find it in the Gmane archive
> (second time today - maybe I'm doing something wrong), here is the  
> last
> part of the thread:


Hi Nick,

thank you for the reminder, I had wanted to do something about this.

I am indeed a bit hesitant to allow just a lisp form here, because  
erroneous
setup of the remember template structure might then lead
to hard-to-trace problems.

However, I am fine with allowing a *function* in this element, as
it is in fact already allowed for the target file name.

I have just pushed a fix that will accept a function in this place
and call it to get the true headline.

Daniel, Keith,

Hope that solves your issue.

- Carsten

>
> ,----
> | To: Robert Goldman <rpgoldman@sift.info>
> | cc: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
> | From: Nick Dokos <nicholas.dokos@hp.com>
> | Cc: nicholas.dokos@hp.com
> | Reply-to: nicholas.dokos@hp.com
> | Subject: Re: [Orgmode] Re: Emacs-orgmode Digest, Vol 39, Issue 122
> | X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.2; GNU Emacs 23.0.93
> | Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 15:39:40 -0400
> | Sender: nick@gamaville.dokosmarshall.org
> |
> | Robert Goldman <rpgoldman@sift.info> wrote:
> |
> | > > Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 23:24:58 -0700
> | > > From: Keith Swartz <gnu@oneroad.com>
> | > > Subject: [Orgmode] Lazy evaluation when defining org-remember- 
> template
> | > > To: "[orgmode]" <emacs-orgmode@gnu.org>
> | > > Message-ID: <4A20D13A.2000603@oneroad.com>
> | > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
> | > >
> | > > ...
> | > >
> | > > Is there a way I can make that command evaluate at the time it  
> is
> | > > invoked, rather than when it is defined? I vaguely recall doing
> | > > something like this, but that was five job roles, three  
> houses, two
> | > > recessions, and two kids ago. :)
> | > >
> | >
> | > I can't swear that this will work, but note that the way you have
> | > written this, it will all be evaluated at load time, as you  
> say.  the
> | > 'list' function will evaluate its arguments to build the list.
> | >
> | > Now, if you don't want this to be evaluated when org-remember- 
> templates
> | > is set, you can quote the form:
> | >
> | > '(format-time-string "%A")
> | >
> | > [note that you quoted the argument to format-time-string.  I don't
> | > believe that's necessary, since strings evaluate to themselves,  
> but I
> | > have not tested this.]
> | >
> | > Actually, I think you would get something easier to read if you  
> quoted
> | > the whole list, instead of quoting each element.  Something like:
> | >
> | > (list '("Todo" ?t "* TODO %?%^{To do} %^g\n  :LOGBOOK:\n  -
> | > Added: %U\n  :END:" "d:/tmp/_my.todo" (format-time-string "%A"))))
> | >
> |
> | That's correct.
> |
> | > The question then is, "what happens when org-remember-templates is
> | > retrieved?"  What you want is for this function to be evaluated  
> when the
> | > templates are found and used.  That will be done by
> | > org-remember-apply-template, which we can examine....
> | >
> | > Unfortunately, I don't see in there anything which retrieves  
> (nth 4
> | > entry), which is the place where your format-time-string goes,  
> so I'm
> | > not sure what is handling this.  It's a little confusing reading  
> that
> | > function's code, since "headline" is ambiguous between whether  
> it means
> | > the headline of the remember note to be inserted or the headline  
> under
> | > which to insert the note...  I believe it's the former.
> | >
> |
> | It's the latter.
> |
> | You can figure out things like this fairly quickly by inserting a
> | (debug) at the appropriate place, and re-evaluating the defun.  
> When the
> | function gets called, it will jump into the debugger when it evals  
> the
> | (debug) form, and you can use the full power of lisp to examine
> | state. For example, here I defined the template the way you  
> suggested,
> | placed a (debug) in org-remember-apply-template, just after the
> | insertion of the template in the remember buffer, re-evaluated the  
> defun
> | (there is an eval-defun, but I prefer to do that by going to the  
> end of
> | the defun - which I can do quickly: repeat M-C-u until I'm at the
> | beginning of the defun and M-C-f to move over the whole defun -  
> and then
> | C-x C-e to eval the last sexpression.)
> |
> | I then call org-remember and in the resulting debug buffer, say
> |
> |   e headline<RET>
> |
> | which says
> |
> | (format-time-string "%A")
> |
> |   e entry<RET>
> |
> | which says
> |
> | ("* TODO %?%^{To do} %^g
> |   :LOGBOOK:
> |   -
> | Added: %U
> |   :END:" (quote "d:/tmp/_my.todo") (format-time-string "%A"))
> |
> | Now you can see that the headline is the third element of this list
> | (i.e. (nth 2 entry) - the numbering starts from 0).
> |
> | > Perhaps someone else can figure this out, or perhaps you could  
> just try
> | > quoting the list and seeing if it works to evaluate the
> | > format-time-string when you want it to.  Org usually does The  
> Right Thing.
> | >
> | But even org cannot perform miracles !-) Somebody has to "force  
> the thunk"
> | in order for delayed evaluation to work. You'd need something like  
> this
> | patch:
> |
> | --- a/lisp/org-remember.el
> | +++ b/lisp/org-remember.el
> | @@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ to be run from that hook to function properly."
> |  				(functionp (nth 1 entry))))
> |  		       (nth 1 entry)
> |  		     org-default-notes-file))
> | -	     (headline (nth 2 entry))
> | +	     (headline (eval (nth 2 entry)))
> |  	     (v-c (and (> (length kill-ring) 0) (current-kill 0)))
> |  	     (v-x (or (org-get-x-clipboard 'PRIMARY)
> |  		      (org-get-x-clipboard 'CLIPBOARD)
> |
> | This should work in simple cases (in particular, because the  
> headline is
> | a string and strings evaluate to themselves, so it should not  
> adversely affect
> | any existing template), but I certainly have not thought about  
> repercussions
> | (including the possibility of *very* obscure bugs because somebody  
> mistyped
> | something in the template - that would be a maintenance nightmare  
> that Carsten
> | might not be willing to take on).
> |
> | Thanks,
> | Nick
> `----
>
> HTH,
> Nick
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Emacs-orgmode mailing list
> Remember: use `Reply All' to send replies to the list.
> Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode

Re: org-remember templates with dynamic target headline

[Keith Swartz]

Hi Carsten,

I think that would work, yes. Can you give an example of what it would 
look like now? Are you saying we can use a function call for a single 
element, or to produce the entire list?

Thanks,
Keith


Carsten Dominik wrote:
>
> On Jun 17, 2009, at 8:20 AM, Nick Dokos wrote:
>
>> Daniel J. Sinder <djsinder@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I want a remember template that will have a target headline based on
>>> the date on which I call org-remember.
>>>
>>> For a simple example, the effect I'd like to achieve is shown by
>>> putting the following in my .emacs:
>>>
>>> (setq org-remember-templates
>>>      `(("Journal" ?j "* %u %?\n" "~/org/wjournal.org"
>>> ,(format-time-string "%G: Week %V"))))
>>>
>>> I'm an elisp noob, but I realize the problem here is that
>>> format-time-string is only evaluated once when my .emacs is read.  So,
>>> unless I restart emacs every week.  This doesn't work.
>>>
>>> How can I cause format-time-string to be re-evaluated whenever
>>> org-remember is called?
>>>
>>
>> You cannot, unless you change the code. Keith Swartz had a similar
>> question recently and although I cannot find it in the Gmane archive
>> (second time today - maybe I'm doing something wrong), here is the last
>> part of the thread:
>
>
> Hi Nick,
>
> thank you for the reminder, I had wanted to do something about this.
>
> I am indeed a bit hesitant to allow just a lisp form here, because 
> erroneous
> setup of the remember template structure might then lead
> to hard-to-trace problems.
>
> However, I am fine with allowing a *function* in this element, as
> it is in fact already allowed for the target file name.
>
> I have just pushed a fix that will accept a function in this place
> and call it to get the true headline.
>
> Daniel, Keith,
>
> Hope that solves your issue.
>
> - Carsten
>
>>
>> ,----
>> | To: Robert Goldman <rpgoldman@sift.info>
>> | cc: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
>> | From: Nick Dokos <nicholas.dokos@hp.com>
>> | Cc: nicholas.dokos@hp.com
>> | Reply-to: nicholas.dokos@hp.com
>> | Subject: Re: [Orgmode] Re: Emacs-orgmode Digest, Vol 39, Issue 122
>> | X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.2; GNU Emacs 23.0.93
>> | Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 15:39:40 -0400
>> | Sender: nick@gamaville.dokosmarshall.org
>> |
>> | Robert Goldman <rpgoldman@sift.info> wrote:
>> |
>> | > > Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 23:24:58 -0700
>> | > > From: Keith Swartz <gnu@oneroad.com>
>> | > > Subject: [Orgmode] Lazy evaluation when defining 
>> org-remember-template
>> | > > To: "[orgmode]" <emacs-orgmode@gnu.org>
>> | > > Message-ID: <4A20D13A.2000603@oneroad.com>
>> | > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>> | > >
>> | > > ...
>> | > >
>> | > > Is there a way I can make that command evaluate at the time it is
>> | > > invoked, rather than when it is defined? I vaguely recall doing
>> | > > something like this, but that was five job roles, three houses, 
>> two
>> | > > recessions, and two kids ago. :)
>> | > >
>> | >
>> | > I can't swear that this will work, but note that the way you have
>> | > written this, it will all be evaluated at load time, as you say.  
>> the
>> | > 'list' function will evaluate its arguments to build the list.
>> | >
>> | > Now, if you don't want this to be evaluated when 
>> org-remember-templates
>> | > is set, you can quote the form:
>> | >
>> | > '(format-time-string "%A")
>> | >
>> | > [note that you quoted the argument to format-time-string.  I don't
>> | > believe that's necessary, since strings evaluate to themselves, 
>> but I
>> | > have not tested this.]
>> | >
>> | > Actually, I think you would get something easier to read if you 
>> quoted
>> | > the whole list, instead of quoting each element.  Something like:
>> | >
>> | > (list '("Todo" ?t "* TODO %?%^{To do} %^g\n  :LOGBOOK:\n  -
>> | > Added: %U\n  :END:" "d:/tmp/_my.todo" (format-time-string "%A"))))
>> | >
>> |
>> | That's correct.
>> |
>> | > The question then is, "what happens when org-remember-templates is
>> | > retrieved?"  What you want is for this function to be evaluated 
>> when the
>> | > templates are found and used.  That will be done by
>> | > org-remember-apply-template, which we can examine....
>> | >
>> | > Unfortunately, I don't see in there anything which retrieves (nth 4
>> | > entry), which is the place where your format-time-string goes, so 
>> I'm
>> | > not sure what is handling this.  It's a little confusing reading 
>> that
>> | > function's code, since "headline" is ambiguous between whether it 
>> means
>> | > the headline of the remember note to be inserted or the headline 
>> under
>> | > which to insert the note...  I believe it's the former.
>> | >
>> |
>> | It's the latter.
>> |
>> | You can figure out things like this fairly quickly by inserting a
>> | (debug) at the appropriate place, and re-evaluating the defun. When 
>> the
>> | function gets called, it will jump into the debugger when it evals the
>> | (debug) form, and you can use the full power of lisp to examine
>> | state. For example, here I defined the template the way you suggested,
>> | placed a (debug) in org-remember-apply-template, just after the
>> | insertion of the template in the remember buffer, re-evaluated the 
>> defun
>> | (there is an eval-defun, but I prefer to do that by going to the 
>> end of
>> | the defun - which I can do quickly: repeat M-C-u until I'm at the
>> | beginning of the defun and M-C-f to move over the whole defun - and 
>> then
>> | C-x C-e to eval the last sexpression.)
>> |
>> | I then call org-remember and in the resulting debug buffer, say
>> |
>> |   e headline<RET>
>> |
>> | which says
>> |
>> | (format-time-string "%A")
>> |
>> |   e entry<RET>
>> |
>> | which says
>> |
>> | ("* TODO %?%^{To do} %^g
>> |   :LOGBOOK:
>> |   -
>> | Added: %U
>> |   :END:" (quote "d:/tmp/_my.todo") (format-time-string "%A"))
>> |
>> | Now you can see that the headline is the third element of this list
>> | (i.e. (nth 2 entry) - the numbering starts from 0).
>> |
>> | > Perhaps someone else can figure this out, or perhaps you could 
>> just try
>> | > quoting the list and seeing if it works to evaluate the
>> | > format-time-string when you want it to.  Org usually does The 
>> Right Thing.
>> | >
>> | But even org cannot perform miracles !-) Somebody has to "force the 
>> thunk"
>> | in order for delayed evaluation to work. You'd need something like 
>> this
>> | patch:
>> |
>> | --- a/lisp/org-remember.el
>> | +++ b/lisp/org-remember.el
>> | @@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ to be run from that hook to function properly."
>> |                  (functionp (nth 1 entry))))
>> |                 (nth 1 entry)
>> |               org-default-notes-file))
>> | -         (headline (nth 2 entry))
>> | +         (headline (eval (nth 2 entry)))
>> |           (v-c (and (> (length kill-ring) 0) (current-kill 0)))
>> |           (v-x (or (org-get-x-clipboard 'PRIMARY)
>> |                (org-get-x-clipboard 'CLIPBOARD)
>> |
>> | This should work in simple cases (in particular, because the 
>> headline is
>> | a string and strings evaluate to themselves, so it should not 
>> adversely affect
>> | any existing template), but I certainly have not thought about 
>> repercussions
>> | (including the possibility of *very* obscure bugs because somebody 
>> mistyped
>> | something in the template - that would be a maintenance nightmare 
>> that Carsten
>> | might not be willing to take on).
>> |
>> | Thanks,
>> | Nick
>> `----
>>
>> HTH,
>> Nick
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Emacs-orgmode mailing list
>> Remember: use `Reply All' to send replies to the list.
>> Emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
>> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-orgmode
>
>

Re: org-remember templates with dynamic target headline

[Carsten Dominik]

On Jun 20, 2009, at 1:09 AM, Keith Swartz wrote:

> Hi Carsten,
>
> I think that would work, yes. Can you give an example of what it  
> would look like now? Are you saying we can use a function call for a  
> single element, or to produce the entire list?

Please see Jere's answer in the "Use environment variable...." thread.

- Carsten

>
> Thanks,
> Keith
>
>
> Carsten Dominik wrote:
>>
>> On Jun 17, 2009, at 8:20 AM, Nick Dokos wrote:
>>
>>> Daniel J. Sinder <djsinder@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I want a remember template that will have a target headline based  
>>>> on
>>>> the date on which I call org-remember.
>>>>
>>>> For a simple example, the effect I'd like to achieve is shown by
>>>> putting the following in my .emacs:
>>>>
>>>> (setq org-remember-templates
>>>>     `(("Journal" ?j "* %u %?\n" "~/org/wjournal.org"
>>>> ,(format-time-string "%G: Week %V"))))
>>>>
>>>> I'm an elisp noob, but I realize the problem here is that
>>>> format-time-string is only evaluated once when my .emacs is  
>>>> read.  So,
>>>> unless I restart emacs every week.  This doesn't work.
>>>>
>>>> How can I cause format-time-string to be re-evaluated whenever
>>>> org-remember is called?
>>>>
>>>
>>> You cannot, unless you change the code. Keith Swartz had a similar
>>> question recently and although I cannot find it in the Gmane archive
>>> (second time today - maybe I'm doing something wrong), here is the  
>>> last
>>> part of the thread:
>>
>>
>> Hi Nick,
>>
>> thank you for the reminder, I had wanted to do something about this.
>>
>> I am indeed a bit hesitant to allow just a lisp form here, because  
>> erroneous
>> setup of the remember template structure might then lead
>> to hard-to-trace problems.
>>
>> However, I am fine with allowing a *function* in this element, as
>> it is in fact already allowed for the target file name.
>>
>> I have just pushed a fix that will accept a function in this place
>> and call it to get the true headline.
>>
>> Daniel, Keith,
>>
>> Hope that solves your issue.
>>
>> - Carsten
>>
>>>
>>> ,----
>>> | To: Robert Goldman <rpgoldman@sift.info>
>>> | cc: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
>>> | From: Nick Dokos <nicholas.dokos@hp.com>
>>> | Cc: nicholas.dokos@hp.com
>>> | Reply-to: nicholas.dokos@hp.com
>>> | Subject: Re: [Orgmode] Re: Emacs-orgmode Digest, Vol 39, Issue 122
>>> | X-Mailer: MH-E 8.1; nmh 1.2; GNU Emacs 23.0.93
>>> | Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 15:39:40 -0400
>>> | Sender: nick@gamaville.dokosmarshall.org
>>> |
>>> | Robert Goldman <rpgoldman@sift.info> wrote:
>>> |
>>> | > > Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 23:24:58 -0700
>>> | > > From: Keith Swartz <gnu@oneroad.com>
>>> | > > Subject: [Orgmode] Lazy evaluation when defining org- 
>>> remember-template
>>> | > > To: "[orgmode]" <emacs-orgmode@gnu.org>
>>> | > > Message-ID: <4A20D13A.2000603@oneroad.com>
>>> | > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>> | > >
>>> | > > ...
>>> | > >
>>> | > > Is there a way I can make that command evaluate at the time  
>>> it is
>>> | > > invoked, rather than when it is defined? I vaguely recall  
>>> doing
>>> | > > something like this, but that was five job roles, three  
>>> houses, two
>>> | > > recessions, and two kids ago. :)
>>> | > >
>>> | >
>>> | > I can't swear that this will work, but note that the way you  
>>> have
>>> | > written this, it will all be evaluated at load time, as you  
>>> say.  the
>>> | > 'list' function will evaluate its arguments to build the list.
>>> | >
>>> | > Now, if you don't want this to be evaluated when org-remember- 
>>> templates
>>> | > is set, you can quote the form:
>>> | >
>>> | > '(format-time-string "%A")
>>> | >
>>> | > [note that you quoted the argument to format-time-string.  I  
>>> don't
>>> | > believe that's necessary, since strings evaluate to  
>>> themselves, but I
>>> | > have not tested this.]
>>> | >
>>> | > Actually, I think you would get something easier to read if  
>>> you quoted
>>> | > the whole list, instead of quoting each element.  Something  
>>> like:
>>> | >
>>> | > (list '("Todo" ?t "* TODO %?%^{To do} %^g\n  :LOGBOOK:\n  -
>>> | > Added: %U\n  :END:" "d:/tmp/_my.todo" (format-time-string  
>>> "%A"))))
>>> | >
>>> |
>>> | That's correct.
>>> |
>>> | > The question then is, "what happens when org-remember- 
>>> templates is
>>> | > retrieved?"  What you want is for this function to be  
>>> evaluated when the
>>> | > templates are found and used.  That will be done by
>>> | > org-remember-apply-template, which we can examine....
>>> | >
>>> | > Unfortunately, I don't see in there anything which retrieves  
>>> (nth 4
>>> | > entry), which is the place where your format-time-string goes,  
>>> so I'm
>>> | > not sure what is handling this.  It's a little confusing  
>>> reading that
>>> | > function's code, since "headline" is ambiguous between whether  
>>> it means
>>> | > the headline of the remember note to be inserted or the  
>>> headline under
>>> | > which to insert the note...  I believe it's the former.
>>> | >
>>> |
>>> | It's the latter.
>>> |
>>> | You can figure out things like this fairly quickly by inserting a
>>> | (debug) at the appropriate place, and re-evaluating the defun.  
>>> When the
>>> | function gets called, it will jump into the debugger when it  
>>> evals the
>>> | (debug) form, and you can use the full power of lisp to examine
>>> | state. For example, here I defined the template the way you  
>>> suggested,
>>> | placed a (debug) in org-remember-apply-template, just after the
>>> | insertion of the template in the remember buffer, re-evaluated  
>>> the defun
>>> | (there is an eval-defun, but I prefer to do that by going to the  
>>> end of
>>> | the defun - which I can do quickly: repeat M-C-u until I'm at the
>>> | beginning of the defun and M-C-f to move over the whole defun -  
>>> and then
>>> | C-x C-e to eval the last sexpression.)
>>> |
>>> | I then call org-remember and in the resulting debug buffer, say
>>> |
>>> |   e headline<RET>
>>> |
>>> | which says
>>> |
>>> | (format-time-string "%A")
>>> |
>>> |   e entry<RET>
>>> |
>>> | which says
>>> |
>>> | ("* TODO %?%^{To do} %^g
>>> |   :LOGBOOK:
>>> |   -
>>> | Added: %U
>>> |   :END:" (quote "d:/tmp/_my.todo") (format-time-string "%A"))
>>> |
>>> | Now you can see that the headline is the third element of this  
>>> list
>>> | (i.e. (nth 2 entry) - the numbering starts from 0).
>>> |
>>> | > Perhaps someone else can figure this out, or perhaps you could  
>>> just try
>>> | > quoting the list and seeing if it works to evaluate the
>>> | > format-time-string when you want it to.  Org usually does The  
>>> Right Thing.
>>> | >
>>> | But even org cannot perform miracles !-) Somebody has to "force  
>>> the thunk"
>>> | in order for delayed evaluation to work. You'd need something  
>>> like this
>>> | patch:
>>> |
>>> | --- a/lisp/org-remember.el
>>> | +++ b/lisp/org-remember.el
>>> | @@ -388,7 +388,7 @@ to be run from that hook to function  
>>> properly."
>>> |                  (functionp (nth 1 entry))))
>>> |                 (nth 1 entry)
>>> |               org-default-notes-file))
>>> | -         (headline (nth 2 entry))
>>> | +         (headline (eval (nth 2 entry)))
>>> |           (v-c (and (> (length kill-ring) 0) (current-kill 0)))
>>> |           (v-x (or (org-get-x-clipboard 'PRIMARY)
>>> |                (org-get-x-clipboard 'CLIPBOARD)
>>> |
>>> | This should work in simple cases (in particular, because the  
>>> headline is
>>> | a string and strings evaluate to themselves, so it should not  
>>> adversely affect
>>> | any existing template), but I certainly have not thought about  
>>> repercussions
>>> | (including the possibility of *very* obscure bugs because  
>>> somebody mistyped
>>> | something in the template - that would be a maintenance  
>>> nightmare that Carsten
>>> | might not be willing to take on).
>>> |
>>> | Thanks,
>>> | Nick
>>> `----
>>>
>>> HTH,
>>> Nick
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Emacs-orgmode mailing list
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>>
>>