WEBVTT - EmacsConf 2022, Ramin Honary: "Build a Zettelkasten with the Hyperbole Rolodex" captioned by ramin
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Hello, attendees of EmacsConf 2022!
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The title of my talk is:
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"Build a Zettelkasten with the Hyperbole Rolodex."
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My name is Ramin Honary.
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I work as a software engineer
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writing apps for a small machine learning consultancy.
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I have been using Emacs since roughly 2018
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after having switched from a workflow
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using Vim together with Screen/Tmux for over a decade.
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Today I'd like to talk a bit about
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the Hyperbole package for Emacs.
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Others are presenting talks later today
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about Hyperbole as well,
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including some of the the authors and maintainers,
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so I won't go into too much detail
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about how Hyperbole works.
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Instead, I want to present
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a more concrete use case for Hyperbole,
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which is how to use it to facilitate
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the Zettelkasten method.
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Most Emacs users will probably be
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more familiar with Org Roam.
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Org Roam may even be the first thing that comes to mind
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when you hear the word "Zettelkasten."
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But personally, I use Hyperbole
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because I found it easier to get started with
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using it as an ideas database.
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All you need to do is install the Hyperbole package
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(which is available on GNU-ELPA)
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and then set a few customization options.
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There is nothing else you really need to do
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to get started.
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And also, Hyperbole works nicely with Org Mode.
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So Hyperbole's built-in functionality
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can be used as a nice, light-weight alternative
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to other Emacs Zettelkasten packages.
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This talk is for people who are curious about
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getting started with the Zettelkasten method,
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but are not ready to commit
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to a more purpose-built solution like Org Roam.
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So the thing I'd like people
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to take away from this presentation
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is that the Hyperbole Emacs package
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provides you with a flat-file database called "HyRolo"
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which you can use to store ideas.
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Then you can use what Hyperbole calls "buttons"
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(which are hyperlinks)
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to execute arbitrary Emacs commands
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and by inserting links into your database
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that execute queries against the database itself.
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These query-action links serve as
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a means to link ideas together,
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thus creating a functioning "Zettelkasten."
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If this doesn't make sense to you,
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I'll explain what all of this means presently.
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So just a quick overview of what "Zettelkasten" is.
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Note that most of what I say
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about the Zettelkasten method
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comes from a guy called Sascha Fast,
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and his website: zettelkasten.de .
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So a Zettelkasten is, in brief,
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a database containing many nodes of interconnected ideas,
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each idea being a single quantity of knowledge
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(about a paragraph)
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and linked to other related ideas.
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Also, let me quickly mention
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that there are actually many tools I use
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that assist me with the zettelkasten method:
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Hyperbole for hyperlinks;
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Embark for general text editing;
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Org Mode for markup;
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Dired for managing large sets of files;
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Consult, Vertico, Orderless, Marginalia;
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for interactive search through directories and documents;
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and Magit for revision control,
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and syncing my database of ideas
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across a few of my computers.
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Each of these tools provides some unique functionality,
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but today I will be focusing mostly on Hyperbole
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and how it is especially useful
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for the task of linking information together
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which is the most important aspect
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of the Zettelkasten methodology.
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And now I'll briefly go over what Hyperbole is.
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At it's core, Hyperbole is a simple markup language
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specifically designed to markup hyperlinks.
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Now, a hyperlink usually is only able to jump to
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ordinary URLs and file paths.
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Hyperbole extends the function of a hyperlink to provide
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a simple human-readable markup
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for executing Emacs commands (called "button actions")
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and then, on top of this core functionality,
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a few mini applications
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for example "HyRolo" and "Koutline",
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have been built to make Hyperbole more generally useful
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as a personal information management tool.
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"HyRolo" is the feature that I use as my Zettelkasten,
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and in particular, the HyRolo search feature
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in combination with
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the usual Hyperbole hyperlink markup language.
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So let me just quote the Hyperbole manual:
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"Hyperbole includes HyRolo for convenient management of
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hierarchical, record-oriented information.
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Most often, this is used for contact management
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but it can quickly be adapted to most any
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record-oriented lookup task requiring fast retrieval."
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So in other words, for example,
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it can be used to run search queries
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across the full set of nodes in a set of Org-Mode files.
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This means we can use an Org-Mode file
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as a flat-file database
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in which entries in the database can be linked together.
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This, in essence, is a what a Zettelkasten is.
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HyRolo needs almost no configuration,
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even if you are using it
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for the purpose of Zettelkasten,
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but you should at least make sure
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you set the location of the database
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in your Emacs config file, using the Customize system
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or however you prefer to configure your Emacs.
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I use "use-package", and on this slide I have here
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an abridged version of what my "init.el" file
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looks like for the Hyperbole package.
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A few relevant environment variables are set:
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the "hyrolo-file-list" variable
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selects where to find Rolo database files
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for the purpose of search. I have it set
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to just the Zettelkasten flat file database.
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And I also set "hyrolo-date-format" variable.
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Each database entry has a time stamp, and
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I use the time stamp as a unique ID
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for each entry (that is, each idea node)
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in the database.
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Finally, before I get into the actual demo,
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let me quickly explain
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the Hyperbole mini-buffer menu system.
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Mini-buffer menus in Hyperbole work just like
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in an ordinary GUI,
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except you typically enter into the mini-buffer menu
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with a key binding instead of a mouse click.
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To open the Hyperbole menu,
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you use the Hyperbole universal leader key
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that's C-h h, which by the way,
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this rebinds the "view-hello-file" command,
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which is a command that probably most people never use.
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So all Hyperbole menu key sequences begin with C-h h.
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Please remember this:
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as I explain how to do things,
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please don't worry too much
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about the key sequences I use
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to perform certain actions.
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Really, I am just navigating
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the Hyperbole mini-buffer menus.
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It is a very discoverable and fluid user interface.
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Anyway, now that we have configured our Rolo database,
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let's see how we enter new ideas into the database.
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And I will start with an empty database,
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then I'll switch over to a more complete database
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that I prepared for this demo. So...
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first we type the Hyperbole universal leader key C-h h,
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and then, you can see the menus down here
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we type "r" for "Rolo" and "a" for "add".
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That's C-h h r a to enter a new idea.
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And this command is available globally so,
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much like with the "org-capture" feature in Org-Mode,
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you can run this command at any time,
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at the very moment you want to enter an idea.
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First we are prompted for an entry title,
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and if you were using HyRolo as a contact list,
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this is where you would enter the person's name.
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I am using it as a Zettelkasten,
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so I instead enter a title for my idea.
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I'll just type in...
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and as soon as I press enter after this prompt,
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my Zettelkasten org file is opened,
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a new entry with the timestamp is created,
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and the cursor is placed at this entry
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ready for me to enter the body text of the idea.
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I'll type that in...
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Now I save the "idea" file (C-x C-s)
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and switch back to what I was working on before
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with the usual C-x 0 (delete-window) command.
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Next, I'd like to talk about
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the HyRolo database search feature,
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which is very useful.
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The HyRolo search feature uses
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only Emacs built-in functions
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and there is no indexing
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as with tools like "mlocate" or Org-Roam.
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So far, I have not had any trouble with efficiency.
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I don't know if at some point in the future,
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it will start slowing down.
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Emacs built-in search functionality
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is already pretty efficient as it is.
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It could also be that I am in the habit
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of storing larger bodies of text in separate files,
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and not in the flat file database.
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Anyway, you can search
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by regex, by string, or by words.
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I personally find the string search
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to be the most useful.
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The difference between word search and string search
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is that string search provides
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logical query operators like AND, OR, XOR, and NOT.
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Once you run a search query,
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a "*HyRolo*" buffer is opened
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with the query's results.
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And this is a read-only-mode buffer
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with a few useful single-key action bindings
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for navigating the list of results
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which I will now demonstrate.
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By the way, I have now switched over
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to a larger example Rolo database that I have created
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to demonstrate more of the HyRolo features.
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The HyRolo search is available
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in the Hyperbole mini-buffer menu
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so it is always available to you.
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Start with the Hyperbole universal leader key C-h h
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then "r" for Rolo and "s" for search. That is C-h h r s.
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Now we are prompted for a search string:
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I type in "Alice Abelton", and when I press enter,
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the search results pop up
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and the number of results is printed in the mini-buffer.
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We could also enter a search expression
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similar to a Lisp S-expression
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with logical operators like AND or NOT,
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but you would not need to quote the search terms.
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So, for example (C-h h r s), I could write
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"(and university character)" within parentheses
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and this would find entries
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that only contain both of the words
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"university" and "character".
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For the most part, I only really ever use
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the ordinary string search without logical operators.
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So as you can see, a search result buffer
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called "*HyRolo*" has popped up
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with all of the matching entries.
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And the search results buffer is a read-only buffer
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with several useful navigation key bindings:
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I can press "o" to switch to "overview" mode,
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which shows all of the headings, but no content.
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This would include subheadings
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with like 2 stars in front of it or 3 stars
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I can press "a" to switch to "show all mode"
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which shows all of the content under each heading.
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If I know I am looking for a keyword
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in a top-level heading,
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I can press "t" to switch to the "top-level" view mode
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which shows only the top-level headings.
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As is always the case
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with the Emacs default key bindings,
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"n" and "p" move the cursor down and up lines,
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so I can navigate the cursor downward
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to an entry that looks interesting.
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I can press "s" to show the content
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of that particular entry.
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I can press "h" to hide the entry again.
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And I can press "e" or M-RET on the entry heading
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to "edit" that heading (that entry),
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which will open the Org-Mode file,
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that is, the Zettelkasten database file
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with the cursor at this particular entry.
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Be warned that editing an entry creates a new timestamp,
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which I do not need, and there is currently
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no way to avoid this behavior.
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I work around this by simply using the undo command
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which removes the unwanted timestamp.
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And so that is how I use the HyRolo search functionality.
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Now... since the most important aspect of Zettelkasten
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is linking ideas in the database,
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how do we actually make this work in HyRolo?
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So this is the secret sauce of Hyperbole,
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and the key take-away
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for this presentation (as I said earlier).
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Hyperbole provides markup syntax
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for executing arbitrary Emacs commands
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so you can link HyRolo entries together
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using the HyRolo search function.
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Let me demonstrate this now.
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I am back in my example HyRolo database,
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and if you take a closer look
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you can see some of the hyperlinks
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that I already created
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with the angle-round bracket syntax.
00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:19.279
Now with the cursor inside of these brackets,
00:13:19.280 --> 00:13:23.439
I can press M-RET to "click" on this link.
00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:27.799
As you can see, the search query
00:13:27.800 --> 00:13:32.039
corresponding to this hyperlink here has executed
00:13:32.040 --> 00:13:34.919
and popped up the "*HyRolo*" search results buffer.
00:13:34.920 --> 00:13:38.719
There is only one linked entry,
00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.399
but the list of ideas that are produced
00:13:41.400 --> 00:13:43.759
by the search query in this buffer here
00:13:43.760 --> 00:13:45.639
are the list of all of the other ideas
00:13:45.640 --> 00:13:47.799
that are related to this hyperlink
00:13:47.800 --> 00:13:49.479
that we just clicked on here.
00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:52.199
(Let me get rid of the other window...)
00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:55.239
Now from within this "*HyRolo*" buffer,
00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:57.839
I can navigate to another hyperlink...
00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:03.759
and clicking on that updates the "*HyRolo*" buffer
00:14:03.760 --> 00:14:04.799
with new results again.
00:14:04.800 --> 00:14:10.119
I can just keep navigating through
00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:13.959
all the Zettelkasten entries in this way.
00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:18.639
And so this is it.
00:14:18.640 --> 00:14:22.719
This is my simple but effective Zettelkasten,
00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:25.119
constructed entirely with the functionality
00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.799
already built-in to Hyperbole.
00:14:26.800 --> 00:14:32.599
In the remaining time,
00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:36.999
I'd like to talk about how Hyperbole hyperlinks work,
00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:38.799
because it's slightly different
00:14:38.800 --> 00:14:40.759
from how hyperlinks work in Org Mode
00:14:40.760 --> 00:14:49.199
or with the Emacs clickable text properties.
00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:52.239
The easiest way to create a hyperlink button
00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:55.279
that runs an Emacs command
00:14:55.280 --> 00:14:59.479
is simply to type the Emacs command as an S-expression,
00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:03.399
but with angle brackets instead of parentheses.
00:15:03.400 --> 00:15:05.679
If you were looking closely,
00:15:05.680 --> 00:15:08.639
you probably already saw a hyperlink of this form,
00:15:08.640 --> 00:15:10.559
an angle-bracketed Emacs command.
00:15:10.560 --> 00:15:13.159
This hyperlink simply calls
00:15:13.160 --> 00:15:18.079
the "hyrolo-fgrep" function with this string argument.
00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:20.839
and so clicking on this button
00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:23.119
is equivalent to running a HyRolo search
00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:27.319
with the C-h h r s key sequence.
00:15:27.320 --> 00:15:31.399
As you can see, clicking on it
00:15:31.400 --> 00:15:32.919
produced the search results
00:15:32.920 --> 00:15:35.079
for entries associated with that string query.
00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:41.079
It's also possible to label an action
00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:43.599
with a so-called "implicit link",
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:47.079
and that's this angle-and-square bracketed notation.
00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:51.999
If I click on this button,
00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.159
it will activate this action
00:15:54.160 --> 00:16:01.359
to the right of the colon separator,
00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:03.639
and there are the relevant search results
00:16:03.640 --> 00:16:04.679
from that string query.
00:16:04.680 --> 00:16:09.119
Finally, there are "explicit links",
00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:11.239
which I find to be especially useful
00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:12.599
for the Zettelkasten method.
00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:15.239
I've already shown an example
00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:17.079
of using an explicit link before.
00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:20.759
What makes explicit links so useful is, firstly,
00:16:20.760 --> 00:16:23.919
that the button works with just the label alone.
00:16:23.920 --> 00:16:26.599
There is no need to write an S-expression or anything.
00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:28.919
You can write the link label
00:16:28.920 --> 00:16:31.959
inline with the body text of the idea.
00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:34.879
(For example, like this.)
00:16:34.880 --> 00:16:38.999
Explicit links are identified by their label,
00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:40.839
so they are especially good for
00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:43.119
the names of people and places.
00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.399
By the way, this Zettelkasten database is for
00:16:46.400 --> 00:16:47.919
a fictional story I started writing
00:16:47.920 --> 00:16:50.079
for the purpose of demonstrating HyRolo
00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.879
in this presentation, and I had so much fun writing it
00:16:52.880 --> 00:16:54.999
that I may actually continue developing this story.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:58.639
Anyway, let's create a new explicit link
00:16:58.640 --> 00:17:01.679
and a new idea entry for a character in the story.
00:17:01.680 --> 00:17:10.239
So suppose I want to create a new idea node entry
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:11.959
for this fictional character here,
00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:15.359
and I'll also want to link this entry to that node.
00:17:15.360 --> 00:17:17.839
Since hyperlinks are just string search,
00:17:17.840 --> 00:17:19.799
we don't actually need to have
00:17:19.800 --> 00:17:22.279
an entry in the database for this character.
00:17:22.280 --> 00:17:24.879
The worst that can happen is that the hyperlink
00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:27.319
executes a search that returns no results.
00:17:27.320 --> 00:17:29.079
So it's OK to create the hyperlink
00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:31.879
before we have an actual entry for this person.
00:17:31.880 --> 00:17:36.719
(I'll just M-w copy the name.)
00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:40.919
Now I use the universal Hyperbole leader key C-h h,
00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:44.519
and then "e" for "explicit links"
00:17:44.520 --> 00:17:49.359
and "c" for "create". That's C-h h e c.
00:17:49.360 --> 00:17:52.639
We are prompted for an entry label
00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:56.119
but it defaults to the text highlighted by the region,
00:17:56.120 --> 00:17:57.959
so I just press enter.
00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:00.479
Now it prompts for a button type,
00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:03.119
so I select "hyrolo-fgrep"
00:18:03.120 --> 00:18:06.479
(and there's Orderless helping me go faster),
00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:10.319
and since "hyrolo-fgrep" requires
00:18:10.320 --> 00:18:12.679
a string argument for the search query,
00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:14.479
I am prompted for the query string.
00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:21.839
I'll type in "character:", (yank "Kerri Katz's" name)
00:18:21.840 --> 00:18:26.839
and there we are, the link has been created, and
00:18:26.840 --> 00:18:31.159
(let me just get rid of the # character)
00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:32.719
I can try it out.
00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:36.199
There's no search results. That's fine.
00:18:36.200 --> 00:18:38.959
We haven't created an idea entry yet
00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:40.799
for this character now.
00:18:40.800 --> 00:18:43.399
So let's go ahead and do that now.
00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:45.679
If we remember how to create a new idea,
00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:52.359
it's C-h h r a, and then I type "character:"
00:18:52.360 --> 00:18:56.799
and then yank the name again.
00:18:56.800 --> 00:18:58.399
Now a new node has been created,
00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:04.359
and I can start describing this character.
00:19:04.360 --> 00:19:08.839
Notice that I like to precede my characters
00:19:08.840 --> 00:19:11.479
with the keyword "character:" colon.
00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:14.919
This technique helps me to create hyperlinks
00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:16.999
using more descriptive search queries
00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:19.879
that return fewer but more useful search results.
00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:23.839
And finally, I can create an explicit link
00:19:23.840 --> 00:19:26.039
from this character back to
00:19:26.040 --> 00:19:28.839
the other character (her boyfriend).
00:19:28.840 --> 00:19:31.159
I just type in "<(Bertrand Becket)>",
00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:37.039
and this explicit link has already been created
00:19:37.040 --> 00:19:39.679
so I don't need to create it again. It just works.
00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.879
Hyperbole identifies buttons by their label,
00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:44.719
so as long as an explicit link button with that label
00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:46.039
has been created before,
00:19:46.040 --> 00:19:51.079
I just can type in the button with markup by hand,
00:19:51.080 --> 00:19:53.279
and then I can just use it.
00:19:53.280 --> 00:19:57.839
Now I am back to the search results
00:19:57.840 --> 00:19:59.319
for the boyfriend character.
00:19:59.320 --> 00:20:04.159
I hope you can see how minimal but useful
00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:07.759
is this particular Zettelkasten technique I have
00:20:07.760 --> 00:20:10.559
that uses this "HyRolo".
00:20:10.560 --> 00:20:19.359
I should also make clear that Hyperbole explicit links
00:20:19.360 --> 00:20:22.279
are encoded in a separate file in the same directory
00:20:22.280 --> 00:20:24.279
as the Zettelkasten flat-file database.
00:20:24.280 --> 00:20:37.079
(So, let's go back to that and C-x C-f ".hypb").
00:20:37.080 --> 00:20:41.239
You should not edit this file by hand,
00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:43.599
but it is human readable,
00:20:43.600 --> 00:20:45.399
so it works well with Git
00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:47.079
and other revision control systems.
00:20:47.080 --> 00:20:49.559
Whenever an explicit link is activated,
00:20:49.560 --> 00:20:52.559
it consults this file and runs the associated action,
00:20:52.560 --> 00:20:55.839
which, in the Zettelkasten use case,
00:20:55.840 --> 00:20:58.799
will always be to run a HyRolo search query.
00:20:58.800 --> 00:21:02.039
The advantage of keeping a separate table of links
00:21:02.040 --> 00:21:03.919
is that you can edit the link action
00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:06.999
(that is, the search query) in just one place,
00:21:07.000 --> 00:21:10.559
and the updated button action works everywhere
00:21:10.560 --> 00:21:12.479
without having to change any other files.
00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:18.399
So, that is all for today.
00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:20.519
Thank you so much for listening to my talk.
00:21:20.520 --> 00:21:23.079
I'll be available for questions
00:21:23.080 --> 00:21:24.919
for the next 20 minutes or so.
00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.959
If there are any questions that I cannot answer,
00:21:27.960 --> 00:21:29.439
you will have a chance to ask
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:31.799
the author of Hyperbole himself, Bob Weiner,
00:21:31.800 --> 00:21:34.239
later today after his presentation.
00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:43.920
Thanks for your attention!
