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https://github.com/rnkn/binder

Emacs global minor mode facilitating multi-file writing projects
https://github.com/rnkn/binder

emacs project-management writing

Last synced: about 1 year ago
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Emacs global minor mode facilitating multi-file writing projects

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README 

          
## Binder has moved to https://codeberg.org/divyaranjan/binder/



Binder

======



[![MELPA Stable](https://stable.melpa.org/packages/binder-badge.svg)][1]

[![MELPA](https://melpa.org/packages/binder-badge.svg)][2]



![screenshot](screenshots/01.png)



Binder is global minor mode to facilitate working on a writing project

in multiple files. It is heavily inspired by the binder feature in the

[macOS writing app Scrivener][3].



The rationale behind working this way is to split a large writing

project into smaller pieces.



Features

--------



Primarily, Binder provides a global minor mode `binder-mode`. This

allows working with files in the current `binder-project-directory`.

Data concerning these files is saved in a `.binder.el` file in the

project directory.



A project can be thought of an ordered list of files with associated

notes and tags.



Navigation

----------



At the most basic level, you can navigate back and forth through the

files in a project:



 - `binder-next (C-c ])` visits the next file in the project

 - `binder-previous (C-c [)` visits the previous



Calling these commands activates a transient map so that each command

can be repeated without the prefix key.



Sidebar

-------



You'll mostly interact with the project structure via the sidebar.



 - `binder-toggle-sidebar (C-c ')` toggles the visibility of the binder

   sidebar

 - `binder-reveal-in-sidebar (C-c ;)` finds the current file in the

   sidebar



Each project item is a file reference relative to the project directory.



Project items are displayed in a linear ordered list. Calling

`binder-sidebar-find-file (RET)` or `binder-sidebar-find-file-other-window (o)`

will visit the corresponding file.



Each item in the sidebar displays the following information:



 1. `*` denotes that this item has some notes (see **Notes** below),

    or...

 2. `?` denotes that the item's corresponding file cannot be found

 3. either the file relative to the project directory, or an arbitrary

    display name

 4. `#tag1 #tag2 ...` arbitrary item tags (see **Tags** below)



An item's display name can be changed with `binder-sidebar-rename (r)`.

If a file cannot be found, relocate with `binder-sidebar-relocate (R)`.



Calling `binder-sidebar-find-file (RET)` will visit the corresponding

file.



To add an existing file, call `binder-sidebar-add-file (a)` or add all

files in directory with `binder-sidebar-add-all-files (A)`.



Add a new file with `binder-sidebar-new-file (M-RET)`. This prompts for a

file-name and adds this (possibly non-existent) file to the project

after the current file's index. If no file-name extension is provided,

use `binder-default-file-extension`.



 > Hint: you can use an alternate default file extension for different

 > projects by setting a directory local variable.



Files can also be added to a project from outside the sidebar with

`binder-add-file (C-c :)`.



Items can be reordered with `binder-sidebar-shift-up (M-p | M-up)` and

`binder-sidebar-shift-down (M-n | M-down)`.



Remove items with `binder-sidebar-remove (d)` -- this *does not delete

the files*, only removes them from the project, but it *does* delete the

corresponding notes and tags.



Hide item file extensions by setting the `binder-sidebar-hide-file-extensions`

option. This can be toggled with `binder-sidebar-toggle-file-extensions (E)`.



The sidebar can be resized with `binder-sidebar-shrink-window ({)` and

`binder-sidebar-enlarge-window (})`. The window size is changed by the

number of columns specified in option `binder-sidebar-resize-window-step`.



You can customize how the sidebar window is displayed by setting

`binder-sidebar-display-alist` option.



Notes

-----



To open the notes buffer from the sidebar, call either

`binder-sidebar-open-notes (z)` to open and select the notes window, or

`binder-sidebar-toggle-notes (i)` to toggle the window.



To open a project file's notes from outside the sidebar, call

`binder-toggle-notes (C-c ")`.



You need to call either `binder-notes-save (C-x C-s)` or

`binder-notes-save-and-quit-window (C-c C-c)` to save notes to the

project file.



Calling `quit-window (C-c C-q | C-c C-k)` or `binder-toggle-sidebar`

does not save notes.



You can embiggen the notes window, to pop it out from the sidebar and

edit like a regular buffer window, with `binder-notes-expand-window (C-c

C-l)`.



You can customize how the notes window is displayed by setting

`binder-notes-display-alist` option.



Tags

----



Tags can help organize a project. An item can have any number of tags.



Add a tag to an item with `binder-sidebar-add-tag (t)`. Remove a tag

from an item with `binder-sidebar-remove-tag (T)`. You can tag/untag

multiple items at once by using marks (see **Marking** below).



Items in the sidebar can be narrowed to only show items with a certain

tag with `binder-sidebar-narrow-by-tag (/)` and/or only show items

without a certain tag with `binder-sidebar-exclude-by-tag (\)`. Each of

these commands can be called multiple times with additional tags.



Clear the sidebar filters with `binder-sidebar-clear-filters (|)`.



Marking

-------



Multiple items can be marked to add tags, toggle include state or

delete. Call `binder-sidebar-mark (m)` to mark an item or

`binder-sidebar-unmark (u)` to unmark an item.



To unmark all sidebar items, call `binder-sidebar-unmark-all (U)`.



Requirements

------------



 - Emacs 24.4

 - seq 2.20 (part of Emacs 25 and later)



Installation

------------



The latest stable release of Binder is available via [MELPA-stable][1].

First, add MELPA-stable to your package archives:



    M-x customize-option RET package-archives RET

    

Insert an entry named `melpa-stable` with URL:

https://stable.melpa.org/packages/



You can then find the latest stable version of `binder` in the list

returned by:



    M-x list-packages RET



If you prefer the latest but perhaps unstable version, do the above

using [MELPA][2].



Advanced Installation

---------------------



Download the latest tagged release, move this file into your `load-path`

and add to your `init.el` file:



    (require 'binder)

    (require 'binder-tutorial)  ;; optional



If you wish to contribute to or alter Binder's code, clone the

repository into your load-path and require as above:



    git clone https://github.com/rnkn/binder.git



Bugs and Feature Requests

-------------------------



Send me an email (address in the package header). For bugs, please

ensure you can reproduce with:



    $ emacs -Q -l binder.el



Known issues are tracked with `FIXME` comments in the source.



Tutorial

--------



Binder comes with a tutorial. Calling `M-x binder-tutorial` will prompt

for an empty directory in which to generate the tutorial files.



[1]: https://stable.melpa.org/#/binder

[2]: https://melpa.org/#/binder

[3]: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/