Set note filename via note title

[SturgeonInc]

Like with the Apple notes app, maybe there could be an option to automatically set and modify the title of a note based on the first line of text (perhaps restricted to only if the first line of the note is a header line?)

[toolstack]

This has been discussed in another issue, though I can't find it right now. Personally I'm not a fan, but if someone submitted a PR (that included an option to disable it) I think I'd accept it.

[whdmike]

Honestly, that function is basically the thing that I don't use Folio yet. I am using such apps (currently I am using Iotas) for ideas, articles, thoughts, and things I should remember, and I really do not like that after I write something, I need to edit the title of the note so that I can find it later. This is a practical application of why automatic note titles would be handy. I like Folio very much; I would be even happier if saving the text would be in real time, but not having "Auto title..." is, for me, still a deal breaker.

PS: I can just tell you why I use such an app, not why the author created it.

[peterjosvai]

hi,

As to the suggested "autotitle" functionality... based on how another app works,
I'm happy with what dev toolstack replied.

But let me add some other thoughts here.

originality and organic development

(note: I am not a developer)
Copying an other application is a very bad practice, the opposite of an organic development.
Organic: step by step, based on the current state of the app, and the usage.

There are so many Applications, and they don't just exist because capitalism works like that, many fight till only one stands.
There are copycat applications, sure, but in Linux World / Open Source world, most applications are original.
This means, they are based on somewhat unique logic, and approach.
As a result , they are not the same. And it should stay like that.

Now, looking at Folio, and this auto-title request by SturgeonInc.

Also look at Tangent MD (another great Markdown editor) and another request by me :)

There's a mistake in the request: calling it "auto-title".
I had to read it twice to realize that title meant filename, and auto-title meant auto-filename....
Of course, it is those nice folks over there at the MAC soft-biz club, who used some not-so-perfect
terminology. The point is, if we don't care, that faultiness won't infiltrate into this project - Folio.

Moreover, if we don't use that corrupted terminology,
we can realize that Folio does offer a very decent way to rename your file anytime!

While editing a text, say, my_work.md, if you're not in full screen mode, you can see your file listed in the side bar.
I assume you're using a desktop comp.
Right clicking on it you can rename it, in "real-time", without closing or even losing sight of your my_work.md for one moment. Renaming is also available using short key: CTRL+E...

As to an auto-filename function:
Folio does have an "auto-filename" mechanism: "Note", "Note 1" ... etc...
The user has to rename it. I mean, give it a decent filename.
Is this really a cumbersome task? :)

As to Tangent MD and my request :)

Tangent has auto-filename, based on the first line of text ...
and I was suggesting the opposite that SturgeonInc suggested here :)
My reasons: I don't like spaces in my filenames, nor any unicode characters... dots included :)

Anyway: Taylor Hadden said no :)
The same thing as here, only the other way around :)
But, guess what, renaming the file in Tangent works just like in Folio. Right click and rename :)
So, I asked myself, too: is this really such a cumbersome task?

all in all...

Downloading an app and start using it is just the beginning of a possibly beautiful friendship :)
There's a lot to explore... including that the workflow or working style that the application "suggests" will turn out to make sense... and be great :)

I do love Folio...

Peter

[toolstack]

Lots of good points in the discussion so far, as I said, if someone wants to do up a PR for this I'm happy to take a look and most likely would merge it.

[SturgeonInc]

I’m interested in doing a PR for this but at the very least it would have to wait until after the semester ends. I’ve never used vala or GTK, so there’s some additional work to be done before I would begin, but I wanted to learn GTK at some point anyway

[SturgeonInc]

I've thought a bit more about this.

My first observation is that we need to handle filename conflicts. Throwing in like a numerical index or something (if "TODO list.md" exists then the new note should be called like "TODO list (1).md") is the obvious choice. But that's kind of ugly, and it makes me realize that maybe the feature I wanted was something more subtle:

When browsing notes using the sidebar menu, what I really just want is it to show the note title with some combination of the filename/creation date/file contents to disambiguate notes with the same title, like apple notes. And setting the actual note filename based on the title is a somewhat brutish way to achieve that.

Nonetheless, this makes me realize that the utility of a filename/note title connection is useful for something else: even if the note title is a little mangled in the process to avoid collisions, it makes managing notes in a file manager or any other external tool much easier than having everything be "Note X".

So all that said, I think I'll still go through with this, and make an issue for the above feature as a separate thing, which I would also be interested in implementing, and would probably do first.

Anyway: for UI I think I'd have a tristate option like

Set Note Filename With Note Title

• Never -- note contents never affect note title
• On new note
  • syncs happens only when a save happens within like the first minute after a note's creation
  • OR alternatively on the first time a user saves a file that has been created with the "new note" action. Handling the state for this latter action might be more trouble than its worth or maybe not, idk, not familiar with GTK
• Always -- syncs filename and title

So decision 1) is how to decide what "on new note" means.

Decision 2) is to decide what "note title" means, and this would apply to that other feature as well. Would it be:

• the first (nonblank) line of text in a note
• the first (nonblank) heading
• the first (nonblank) line of text only if it is also a heading

Decision 3) is what to do for a note that doesn't have what we constitute as a title. For file-naming, I think obviously the right thing to do is nothing-- just use the default of like "Note X". For displaying in the sidebar this is less trivial. I think the wisest thing would be to show the note filename as a default, with the .md, and maybe also like italicized or something so that it would be completely unambiguous whether the filename is being shown or the the title (even if the title ended in .md)

[toolstack]

Anyway: for UI I think I'd have a tristate option like

Set Note Filename With Note Title

• Never -- note contents never affect note title

• On new note

  • syncs happens only when a save happens within like the first minute after a note's creation
  • OR alternatively on the first time a user saves a file that has been created with the "new note" action. Handling the state for this latter action might be more trouble than its worth or maybe not, idk, not familiar with GTK

• Always -- syncs filename and title

So decision 1) is how to decide what "on new note" means.

I'd simplify this down to just a enable/disable toggle for "Name notes based on first line of the note".

This means that if the note filename is one of the defaults (aka some form of "Note #.md", then once a line of text has been entered on the first line (or as per below), we'll use that to rename the note. After that, we'll never touch the name again.

Decision 2) is to decide what "note title" means, and this would apply to that other feature as well. Would it be:

• the first (nonblank) line of text in a note
• the first (nonblank) heading
• the first (nonblank) line of text only if it is also a heading

This could be a second option to allow the user to choose.

Decision 3) is what to do for a note that doesn't have what we constitute as a title. For file-naming, I think obviously the right thing to do is nothing-- just use the default of like "Note X". For displaying in the sidebar this is less trivial. I think the wisest thing would be to show the note filename as a default, with the .md, and maybe also like italicized or something so that it would be completely unambiguous whether the filename is being shown or the the title (even if the title ended in .md)

I'd say the same as we do now, no need to over complicate it. If the user has the auto rename option enabled, the note will be appropriately renamed once a title has been entered.

The note title in the note list should remain the filename, this makes it easy for you to find the note on the filesystem and use another editor or do whatever you want with it.

This does bring in some complexity around the sanitizing of the "note title" line in to be compliant with file naming conventions (you probably want to strip out unicode characters, and things like slashes, to make the safe).

I don't think it makes sense to disconnect note titles from the note file names within Folio. The reason that apps like Apple Notes do this is because there are no files in Apple Notes, that's all stored in a database, so titles are always just another field in the table (assuming they even store it separately?)

Folio keeps the filesystem model to make it easy to sync across devices and even use different note taking apps if you like on the same files. "Hiding" the note filename behind a constructed note title in the UI would make it harder to identify notes across devices and file systems.

I could see a slightly different implementation where a third line was added to the note list items. At the moment each item is the title on the first line, then the date/time info on the second. A third line between these two could be added to include the "note title" as discussed above. Or swap the two lines so the "note title" was first and filename second 🤷

Either way additional sort options could be added to handle them, or a toggle to swap which is first and then just sort on that.