2

Nautilus has its notes-for-files
Tomboy has it's notes for linking-ideas
The screen itself has its sticky notes

Is there an app for jotting down notes for a particular window?
... probably based on the window's title, and displayed via shortcut key..

2
  • To what end? Also, once the window closes, what then? What kind of notes?
    – Scaine
    Dec 29, 2010 at 15:46
  • To what end? .. the same "end" as for any note ever taken/written.. as a reminder. Like some particular figures I'd like to compare now, based on yesterdays figures... There are many ways I could use it... At the moment I keep all this type of information in a few select files.. but seperating the data from its source is not usually a preferred optione.. Hence Nautilus Notes.. one note, one file.... The "closed window" will be opened again tomorrow, and it would be much nicer to press a hotkey for my reminders regarding this paritcular window.
    – Peter.O
    Dec 29, 2010 at 15:54

2 Answers 2

1

Well, I've been on the learning curve again... (late nights and lots of coffee).

The net result is a moderately useable bash script (using an sqlite db/table) which does what I was after...
... ie. Creates a grouping of notes, based on window titles...

It works.. but it's definitely "alpha"..

So, I've got my home-grown app! ... I'm posting it here for anyone interested in a "look-see"...

Here it is:


#!/bin/bash

clearAllDataAndStartAgain="false"

# Name: tinotes (Title Notes)
# 
# What does it do? ... Aside from giving me a great opportunity to learn
#      more about bash (and sqlite, which I had previously barely touched).. not much ;)
#      Actually, it allows you to keep notes, grouped by window title.
#      The notes are kept in an sqlite database. 
#      Each timestamped note-"event" is stored in a row of the main (only) table.
#      You can consolidate notes in a semi ad-hoc manner... 
#      Notes are presented to you in a single editable text file (in Leafpad).  
#      You must keep at least one "tinotes" timestamp-line at the top of the text...
#      All lines above this topmost timestamp-line are ignored,
#      including the "title", which is presented upon each viewing.
#      If you remove any/all other "timestamp line(s)", those particular rows are 
#      deleted from the sqlite table, and the text which remains is associated with
#      the immediately preceding timestamp-line (and updated as such in the sqlite table)
#         
# How do you drive it? .. Just associate `tinotes.sh` with a shortcut-key.. That's' it!
#      Just press the shortcut-key and you will be presented with Leafpad displaying 
#      a  "title line" at the very top, and on line 2, is a "tinotes timestamp" line.  
#      Type your note below the  timestamp-line, then Save and Exit Leafpad,..
#      NB.. You MUST fully EXIT Leafpad.. the script cannot proceed until you EXIT Leafpad..
#      Leafpad is effectively being used as a Dialog-box with "normal" editing capability.
#      A warning Dialog appears if another instance of this script is currently running.. 
#      (actually, if another ***tinotes** leafpad window is running).
#             
# Caveat: This version is very much "demo-only"... 
#         It works, but has typical "alpha" bugs... 
#         I've presented it here, for anyone who is interested in the general idea.
#             
# dependencies
# ============
#      sqlite3 ,, the notes are stored in a sqlite db.
#      leafpad .. to edit/view the notes (no need to re-invent the wheel)
#       wmctrl .. to detect if a ***tinotes*** leafpad window is currently open.
#      xdotool .. to get the active window's' ID
#     xwininfo .. to get a window's title via it's ID.
#       md5sum .. to check for mods to the presented/added notes data 
#       zenity .. for warning dialog(s)
#          sed .. versatile!
#           wc .. word count? .. line count (here)

############################################################################

function FinalizeNote {
  title="$1"; note="$2"; timeline="$3"; preList="$4"

  # Remove trailing whitespace
  note="${note%"${note##*[![:space:]]}"}"
  # Does this timestamp exist in the  PRE-LIST
  timestamp=${timeline:0:19}
  preCt=$(sed -n "s/^$timestamp.\(.*\)/\1/p" "$preList" |wc -l)
  if [ "$preCt" -eq "0" ] ; then
      sqlite3 "$appdb" "INSERT INTO Tmain (time,title,note) VALUES('$timestamp','$title','$note');"
  elif [ "$preCt" -gt "1" ] ; then
      excod=3
      zenity --error --text "$preCt duplicate timestamps found. \
      \nThis is an 'alpha' problem! \
      \n\n    Exiting with code $excod"
      exit $excod
  else
      # TODO: At it currently stands, it is only known that "something" has changed, 
      #       but not which rows have been effected. (Just update them all, for now.)
      id=$(sed -n "s/^$timestamp.\(.*\)/\1/p" "$preList")
      sqlite3 "$appdb" "UPDATE Tmain SET note='$note' WHERE id='$id';"
      # Remove line from PRE-LIST
      sed -i -e "/^$timestamp.*$/d" "$preList"
  fi
}

############################################################################

  sep="∘" # Field seperator 
  sepmulti="∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘∘"
  sepfirst="∘∘(write∘new∘notes∘below∘this∘line)∘∘"
  appnam="tinotes"
  appdir="$HOME/.$appnam"
  appdb="$appdir/$appnam.db"
  appsql="$appdir/$appnam.sql"
  apptxt="$appdir/$sep$sep$sep$appnam$sep$sep$sep"
  preList="$appdir/$appnam.pre"; echo -n>"$preList"

  tiwid=0 # Check for a currently running Instance of the "Leafpad"  window...   
  tiwid=$(wmctrl -l |sed -n "s/\([^ ]\+\) \+[^ ]\+ \+[^ ]\+ \*\?$(basename $apptxt)$/\1/p")
  if [ "${tiwid:0:2}" == "0x" ] ; then
      # Warn of the need to finalize an already-running instance of this script
      zenity --warning  --text "You must first finalize a previously opened \n\t 'tinotes' window.\
      \n\n  To activate the window, select 'OK'"
      # 'wmctrl' can only activate via a title
      #   ..and it is case-insensitive and wildcarded!! 
      # so use 'xdotool'
      xdotool windowactivate --sync $(($tiwid))
      exit
  fi

  #################################################################################################################################################
  [ "$clearAllDataAndStartAgain" = "true" ] && [ -d "$appdir" ] && rm -rf  "$appdir" # Typically for TESTING ONLY; Remove all data,and start afresh!  
  #################################################################################################################################################

  # First-time create app's main directory
  [ ! -d "$appdir" ] && mkdir   "$appdir"
  # First-time Create the Tmain table
  [ ! -f "$appdb" ] && sqlite3 "$appdb" "create table Tmain (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,time DATE,title TEXT,note TEXT);"

# Get the active-window's title
# =============================
  activeT=$(xwininfo -id "$(xdotool getactivewindow)" |sed -n \
  "2s/^xwininfo: Window id: \(0x[[:xdigit:]]\+\) \x22\(.*\)\x22$/\2/p")

# Does a previous row of the same title already exist?
# ====================================================
  # First, prepare a new/"empty" note entry
    echo "$activeT" >"$apptxt"
    echo -e $(date '+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S' |tr -d '\n')" $sep$appnam$sepfirst\n\n\n">>"$apptxt"

  # Count existing rows for this title
  if [ $(sqlite3 "$appdb" "SELECT COUNT(title) FROM Tmain WHERE title = '$activeT';") -gt 0 ] ; then
      # Previous notes FOUND for this window title
      # Make a list of timestamps to match-off against any user mods 
      sqlite3 "$appdb" "SELECT time,id FROM Tmain WHERE title='$activeT';" >"$preList"

      # Build and Run the query to construct the "timeline"
      echo -e ".separator "$sep"\n\
      SELECT time||' $sep$appnam$sepmulti','\n\n'||note||'\n' FROM Tmain WHERE title='$activeT' order by time desc;">"$appsql"
      sqlite3 "$appdb" <"$appsql">>"$apptxt"
  fi
  # Present the notes to the user (get the  "before" md5sum, to compare with user's access/mods)  
  md5bef=$(md5sum "$apptxt" |sed "s/\([[:xdigit:]]\+\).*/\1/")
  leafpad "$apptxt" # The script waits for the user to close "leafpad"
  md5aft=$(md5sum "$apptxt" |sed "s/\([[:xdigit:]]\+\).*/\1/")
  # Check for any modifications to the notes
  if [ "$md5bef" == "$md5aft" ] ; then
      # No changes have been made.
      exit 0
  fi
  # The notes have been modified. Commit the changes!
  # It's time to analyze the changes, and tidy up.
  #   Remove leading and trailing blank lines (per timestamp).
  #   Delete rows for which the timestamp has been removed.
  #   Update the table for all the remaining rows.
  note=""
  lnCt=0
  while read line ; do
      lnCt=$((lnCt+1))
      [ "$lnCt" -eq "1" ] && continue  # The first line is a throw-away copy of the "title"
      # Find timeline. Any leading data is lost. (It shouldn't be there... common-sense!)
      if [[ "$line" =~ ^[0-9]{4}-[0-9]{2}-[0-9]{2}\ [0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}\ ∘.*∘$ ]] ; then
          # FOUND timeline
          if [ "$note" != "" ] ; then
              FinalizeNote "$activeT" "$note" "$timeline" "$preList"
          fi
          note=""
          timeline=$line
      elif [ "$line" = "" ] ; then
          if [ "$note" != "" ] ; then
              note="$note$line"$'\n' # append this blank line
          fi
      else
          note="$note$line"$'\n' # append this non-blank line
      fi 
  done <"$apptxt"
  #
  if [ "$note" != "" ] ; then
      FinalizeNote "$activeT" "$note" "$timeline" "$preList"
  fi
  # Delete rows for timestamps still in the PRE-LIST
  while read line ; do
      eval $(echo "$line" |sed -n "s/.*|\([0-9]\+\)$/id=\1/p")
      sqlite3 "$appdb" "DELETE FROM Tmain WHERE id='$id';"
  done <"$preList"

exit 

############################################################################
1
  • You should accept this as the answer, it's fantastic! And thank you for explaining it, not just posting a bunch of opaque commands. Jan 4, 2011 at 21:14
0

Hmm, the best I can think of is going into ccsm and playing with selecting windows by name (I'd start with the "Window Rules" plugin). There is a way to move or sticky windows by name, so if you named your windows uniquely, and you were clever, maybe this could work...

1
  • Syzygy.. thanks for the thought, but what I'm looking for is something which will "automatically" create an empty note based on the window title, and then after I type in some information, I can recall that note via the same shortcut key, either when I'm in the window, or independantly via a search of all the collected notes... If nothing already exists, I'll rough something together myself... it seems like a fairly simple idea, and a small targeted project is the best way to learn, especialy if you are scratching your own itch... but a pre-made app would be preferable.
    – Peter.O
    Dec 29, 2010 at 17:48

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