[Exporter] Export of property drawers

[Exporter] Export of property drawers

[Alexander Baier]

Hello,

i want to export property drawers of an org-file to ASCII.  How do I do
this?  I got the impression, that the exporter does not touch the
properties drawers.  So I started to fiddle with the exporter but got no
satisfying results out of it.

This is what i tried so far:

The elisp i wrote in this process:
===============================================================================
(defun org-tut-ascii-translater-property-drawer (drawer backend info)
  (let ((prop (org-element-property :properties drawer)))
    (format "%S" prop))) ;; i just wanted to see, if anything arrives here

(org-export-define-derived-backend 'my-ascii 'ascii
  :translate-alist '((template .
                      org-tut-ascii-translater-property-drawer)))
===============================================================================

This are my ERT-tests:
===============================================================================
(ert-deftest org-tut-export-test ()
  (with-temp-buffer
    (org-mode)
    (let ((org-export-show-temporary-export-buffer nil))
      (insert (org-tut-test-contents))
      (org-export-to-buffer 'my-ascii "*Org ASCII Export*" nil nil t nil)
      (should (eql (org-tut-result)
                   (with-current-buffer "*Org ASCII Export*"
                     (buffer-substring-no-properties
                      (point-min) (point-max)))))
      )
    )
  )

(defun org-tut-test-contents ()
  nil
  "* Alex
  :PROPERTIES:
  :MATNR:    1234567
  :END:
** Task 1
*** Subtask 1.1
    :PROPERTIES:
    :POINTS:   5
    :END:
")

(defun org-tut-result ()
  nil
  "1 Alex
======
Matnr=1234567

1.1 Task 1 
~~~~~~~~~~

1.1.1 Subtask 1.1
-----------------
Points: 5
")
===============================================================================

Upon exporting I only get the headlines, without any properties related
stuff.

If you need any further info, I will gladly provide it.

Regards,
Alex

Re: [Exporter] Export of property drawers

[Nicolas Goaziou]

Hello,

Alexander Baier <lexi.baier@gmail.com> writes:

> i want to export property drawers of an org-file to ASCII.  How do I do
> this?  I got the impression, that the exporter does not touch the
> properties drawers.  So I started to fiddle with the exporter but got no
> satisfying results out of it.

You can either define a new back-end, as you did, or defadvice the
current one.
>
> This is what i tried so far:
>
> The elisp i wrote in this process:
> ===============================================================================
> (defun org-tut-ascii-translater-property-drawer (drawer backend info)
>   (let ((prop (org-element-property :properties drawer)))
>     (format "%S" prop))) ;; i just wanted to see, if anything arrives
> here

There is no `:properties' attribute for property drawers. Also you are
mixing translators and filters: arguments for translators are ELEMENT
CONTENTS INFO. Use, for example:

 (defun my-ascii-property-drawer (drawer contents info)
   contents)


> (org-export-define-derived-backend 'my-ascii 'ascii
>   :translate-alist '((template .
>                       org-tut-ascii-translater-property-drawer)))

Replace `template' with `property-drawer'. You also need to define
a translator for `node-property' elements, e.g.,

  (defun my-ascii-node-property (node-prop contents info)
    (concat (org-element-property :key node-prop)
            ": "
            (org-element-property :value node-prop)))

and

  (org-export-define-derived-backend 'my-ascii 'ascii
    :translate-alist '((property-drawer . my-ascii-property-drawer)
                       (node-property . my-ascii-node-property)))


Regards,

-- 
Nicolas Goaziou

Re: [Exporter] Export of property drawers

[Christian Moe]

Hi,

Nicolas, do I understand correctly that the contents of a property
drawer will not export? 

Back before I switched to the new exporter, all
I had to do to export properties was to add

#+OPTIONS: d:t 

but I notice this doesn't work, nor does d:(PROPERTIES).

Properties are sometimes used to make simple databases of useful
stuff. (I compiled a bunch of research notes like that just before
before switching to the new exporter!) It would be nice to have an easy
way to print them without having to figure out how to do it with filters
or defadvices.

Yours,
Christian



Nicolas Goaziou writes:

> Hello,
>
> Alexander Baier <lexi.baier@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> i want to export property drawers of an org-file to ASCII.  How do I do
>> this?  I got the impression, that the exporter does not touch the
>> properties drawers.  So I started to fiddle with the exporter but got no
>> satisfying results out of it.
>
> You can either define a new back-end, as you did, or defadvice the
> current one.
>>
>> This is what i tried so far:
>>
>> The elisp i wrote in this process:
>> ===============================================================================
>> (defun org-tut-ascii-translater-property-drawer (drawer backend info)
>>   (let ((prop (org-element-property :properties drawer)))
>>     (format "%S" prop))) ;; i just wanted to see, if anything arrives
>> here
>
> There is no `:properties' attribute for property drawers. Also you are
> mixing translators and filters: arguments for translators are ELEMENT
> CONTENTS INFO. Use, for example:
>
>  (defun my-ascii-property-drawer (drawer contents info)
>    contents)
>
>
>> (org-export-define-derived-backend 'my-ascii 'ascii
>>   :translate-alist '((template .
>>                       org-tut-ascii-translater-property-drawer)))
>
> Replace `template' with `property-drawer'. You also need to define
> a translator for `node-property' elements, e.g.,
>
>   (defun my-ascii-node-property (node-prop contents info)
>     (concat (org-element-property :key node-prop)
>             ": "
>             (org-element-property :value node-prop)))
>
> and
>
>   (org-export-define-derived-backend 'my-ascii 'ascii
>     :translate-alist '((property-drawer . my-ascii-property-drawer)
>                        (node-property . my-ascii-node-property)))
>
>
> Regards,

Re: [Exporter] Export of property drawers

[Nicolas Goaziou]

Hello,

Christian Moe <mail@christianmoe.com> writes:

> Nicolas, do I understand correctly that the contents of a property
> drawer will not export?

Correct

> Back before I switched to the new exporter, all
> I had to do to export properties was to add
>
> #+OPTIONS: d:t 
>
> but I notice this doesn't work, nor does d:(PROPERTIES).

No, it won't. See docstring for `org-export-with-drawers'. Property
drawers are very different from regular drawers.

> Properties are sometimes used to make simple databases of useful
> stuff. (I compiled a bunch of research notes like that just before
> before switching to the new exporter!) It would be nice to have an easy
> way to print them without having to figure out how to do it with filters
> or defadvices.

Through macros, you can already access to specific properties, e.g.:

  {{{property(ARCHIVE)}}}

There is no function to dump the whole database in the export buffer
because it contains many Org-specific entries which are irrelevant and
because there are many ways to dump it.

That's not what you asked, but the following function:

#+begin_emacs-lisp
(defun my-database-dump (backend)
  (goto-char (point-min))
  (while (re-search-forward "^[ \t]*:PROPERTIES" nil t)
    (let ((element (org-element-at-point)))
      (when (eq (org-element-type element) 'property-drawer)
        (goto-char (org-element-property :end element))
        (insert "#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE\n"
                (buffer-substring (org-element-property :begin element)
                                  (progn (goto-char
                                          (org-element-property :end element))
                                         (skip-chars-backward " \r\t\n")
                                         (forward-line)
                                         (point)))
                "#+END_EXAMPLE\n")))))
#+end_emacs-lisp

when added to `org-export-before-parsing-hook', will wrap every property
drawer within an example block so it can appear in the export output.


Regards,

-- 
Nicolas Goaziou

Re: [Exporter] Export of property drawers

[Alexander Baier]

Hello Nicolas,

thank you for the clarification and examples, they helped a lot and I
got it working as I wanted it. 

Regards,
Alex

Nicolas Goaziou <n.goaziou@gmail.com> writes:
> Hello,
>
> Alexander Baier <lexi.baier@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> i want to export property drawers of an org-file to ASCII.  How do I do
>> this?  I got the impression, that the exporter does not touch the
>> properties drawers.  So I started to fiddle with the exporter but got no
>> satisfying results out of it.
>
> You can either define a new back-end, as you did, or defadvice the
> current one.
>>
>> This is what i tried so far:
>>
>> The elisp i wrote in this process:
>> ===============================================================================
>> (defun org-tut-ascii-translater-property-drawer (drawer backend info)
>>   (let ((prop (org-element-property :properties drawer)))
>>     (format "%S" prop))) ;; i just wanted to see, if anything arrives
>> here
>
> There is no `:properties' attribute for property drawers. Also you are
> mixing translators and filters: arguments for translators are ELEMENT
> CONTENTS INFO. Use, for example:
>
>  (defun my-ascii-property-drawer (drawer contents info)
>    contents)
>
>
>> (org-export-define-derived-backend 'my-ascii 'ascii
>>   :translate-alist '((template .
>>                       org-tut-ascii-translater-property-drawer)))
>
> Replace `template' with `property-drawer'. You also need to define
> a translator for `node-property' elements, e.g.,
>
>   (defun my-ascii-node-property (node-prop contents info)
>     (concat (org-element-property :key node-prop)
>             ": "
>             (org-element-property :value node-prop)))
>
> and
>
>   (org-export-define-derived-backend 'my-ascii 'ascii
>     :translate-alist '((property-drawer . my-ascii-property-drawer)
>                        (node-property . my-ascii-node-property)))
>
>
> Regards,

Re: [Exporter] Export of property drawers

[Christian Moe]

Thanks, Nicolas,

That's very useful to know. And although "d:t" was a lot simpler, I
understand the point that people will want to customize how they want to
export their databases anyway. Your information below is enough to get
me started and may save me days of work.

Yours,
Christian

Nicolas Goaziou writes:

> Through macros, you can already access to specific properties, e.g.:
>
>   {{{property(ARCHIVE)}}}
>
> There is no function to dump the whole database in the export buffer
> because it contains many Org-specific entries which are irrelevant and
> because there are many ways to dump it.
>
> That's not what you asked, but the following function:
>
> #+begin_emacs-lisp
> (defun my-database-dump (backend)
>   (goto-char (point-min))
>   (while (re-search-forward "^[ \t]*:PROPERTIES" nil t)
>     (let ((element (org-element-at-point)))
>       (when (eq (org-element-type element) 'property-drawer)
>         (goto-char (org-element-property :end element))
>         (insert "#+BEGIN_EXAMPLE\n"
>                 (buffer-substring (org-element-property :begin element)
>                                   (progn (goto-char
>                                           (org-element-property :end element))
>                                          (skip-chars-backward " \r\t\n")
>                                          (forward-line)
>                                          (point)))
>                 "#+END_EXAMPLE\n")))))
> #+end_emacs-lisp
>
> when added to `org-export-before-parsing-hook', will wrap every property
> drawer within an example block so it can appear in the export output.
>
>
> Regards,