Support for multiple directories with notes (related to issue #18)

Issue #18 on GitHub:
  #18

Author: xolox

README.md

@@ -31,18 +31,24 @@ Unzip the most recent [ZIP archive] [download] file inside your Vim profile dire
 
 All options have reasonable defaults so if the plug-in works after installation you don't need to change any options. They're available for people who like to customize their directory layout. These options can be configured in your [vimrc script] [vimrc] by including a line like this:
 
-    :let g:notes_directory = '~/Documents/Notes'
+    :let g:notes_directories = ['~/Documents/Notes', '~/Dropbox/Shared Notes']
 
 Note that after changing an option in your [vimrc script] [vimrc] you have to restart Vim for the changes to take effect.
 
-### The `g:notes_directory` option
+### The `g:notes_directories` option
 
-All your notes are stored together in one directory. This option defines the path of this directory. The default value depends on circumstances but should work for most people:
+Your notes are stored in one or more directories. This option defines where you want to store your notes. Its value should be a list (there's an example above) with one or more pathnames. The default is a single value which depends on circumstances but should work for most people:
 
  * If the profile directory where the plug-in is installed is writable, the directory `misc/notes/user` under the profile directory is used. This is for compatibility with [Pathogen] [pathogen]; the notes will be stored inside the plug-in's bundle.
 
  * If the above doesn't work out, the default depends on the platform: `~/vimfiles/misc/notes/user` on Windows and `~/.vim/misc/notes/user` on other platforms.
 
+#### Backwards compatibility
+
+In the past the notes plug-in only supported a single directory and the corresponding option was called `g:notes_directory`. When support for multiple notes directories was introduced the option was renamed to `g:notes_directories` to reflect that the value is now a list of directory pathnames.
+
+For backwards compatibility with old configurations (all of them as of this writing :-) the notes plug-in still uses `g:notes_directory` when it is defined (its no longer defined by the plug-in). However when the plug-in warns you to change your configuration you probably should because this compatibility will be removed at some point.
+
 ### The `g:notes_suffix` option
 
 The suffix to add to generated filenames. The plug-in generates filenames for your notes based on the title (first line) of each note and by default these filenames don't include an extension like `.txt`. You can use this option to make the plug-in automatically append an extension without having to embed the extension in the note's title, e.g.:
@@ -103,28 +109,32 @@ This option defines the pathname of the text file that stores the list of known
 
 ## Commands
 
-To edit one of your existing notes you can use Vim commands such as [:edit] [edit], [:split] [split] and [:tabedit] [tabedit] with a filename that starts with *note:* followed by (part of) the title of one of your notes, e.g.:
+To edit one of your existing notes (or create a new one) you can use Vim commands such as [:edit] [edit], [:split] [split] and [:tabedit] [tabedit] with a filename that starts with *note:* followed by (part of) the title of one of your notes, e.g.:
 
     :edit note:todo
 
 This shortcut also works from the command line:
 
     $ gvim note:todo
 
-When you don't follow *note:* with anything a new note is created.
+When you don't follow *note:* with anything a new note is created like when you execute `:Note` without any arguments.
 
 ### The `:Note` command
 
 When executed without any arguments this command starts a new note in the current window. If you pass one or more arguments the command will edit an existing note containing the given words in the title. If more than one note is found you'll be asked which note you want to edit. If no notes are found a new note is started with the given word(s) as title.
 
 This command will fail when changes have been made to the current buffer, unless you use `:Note!` which discards any changes.
 
+When you are using multiple directories to store your notes and you run `:Note` while editing an existing note, a new note will inherit the directory of the note from which you started. Otherwise the note is created in the first directory in `g:notes_directories`.
+
 *This command supports tab completion:* If you complete one word, all existing notes containing the given word somewhere in their title are suggested. If you type more than one word separated by spaces, the plug-in will complete only the missing words so that the resulting command line contains the complete note title and nothing more.
 
 ### The `:NoteFromSelectedText` command
 
 Start a new note in the current window with the selected text as the title of the note. The name of this command isn't very well suited to daily use, that's because it's intended to be executed from a mapping. The default mapping for this command is `\en` (the backslash is actually the character defined by the [mapleader] [mapleader] variable).
 
+When you are using multiple directories to store your notes and you run `:NoteFromSelectedText` while editing an existing note, the new note will inherit the directory of the note from which it was created.
+
 ### The `:SplitNoteFromSelectedText` command
 
 Same as `:NoteFromSelectedText` but opens the new note in a vertical split window. The default mapping for this command is `\sn`.

autoload/xolox/notes.vim

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 " Vim auto-load script
 " Author: Peter Odding <peter@peterodding.com>
-" Last Change: May 6, 2013
+" Last Change: May 12, 2013
 " URL: http://peterodding.com/code/vim/notes/
 
 " Note: This file is encoded in UTF-8 including a byte order mark so
 " that Vim loads the script using the right encoding transparently.
 
-let g:xolox#notes#version = '0.18.3'
+let g:xolox#notes#version = '0.19'
 let s:scriptdir = expand('<sfile>:p:h')
 
 call xolox#misc#compat#check('notes', 2)
@@ -26,11 +26,17 @@ function! xolox#notes#init() " {{{1
   else
     let localdir = xolox#misc#path#absolute('~/.vim/misc/notes')
   endif
+  " Backwards compatibility with old configurations.
+  if exists('g:notes_directory')
+    call xolox#misc#msg#warn("notes.vim %s: Please upgrade your configuration, see :help notes-backwards-compatibility", g:xolox#notes#version)
+    let g:notes_directories = [g:notes_directory]
+    unlet g:notes_directory
+  endif
   " Define the default location where the user's notes are saved?
-  if !exists('g:notes_directory')
-    let g:notes_directory = xolox#misc#path#merge(localdir, 'user')
+  if !exists('g:notes_directories')
+    let g:notes_directories = [xolox#misc#path#merge(localdir, 'user')]
   endif
-  call s:create_notes_directory()
+  call s:create_notes_directories()
   " Define the default location of the shadow directory with predefined notes?
   if !exists('g:notes_shadowdir')
     let g:notes_shadowdir = xolox#misc#path#merge(systemdir, 'shadow')
@@ -82,15 +88,16 @@ function! xolox#notes#init() " {{{1
   endif
 endfunction
 
-function! s:create_notes_directory()
-  let notes_directory = expand(g:notes_directory)
-  if !isdirectory(notes_directory)
-    call xolox#misc#msg#info("notes.vim %s: Creating notes directory (first run?) ..", g:xolox#notes#version)
-    call mkdir(notes_directory, 'p')
-  endif
-  if filewritable(notes_directory) != 2
-    call xolox#misc#msg#warn("notes.vim %s: The notes directory (%s) is not writable!", g:xolox#notes#version, notes_directory)
-  endif
+function! s:create_notes_directories()
+  for directory in xolox#notes#find_directories(0)
+    if !isdirectory(directory)
+      call xolox#misc#msg#info("notes.vim %s: Creating notes directory %s (first run?) ..", g:xolox#notes#version, directory)
+      call mkdir(directory, 'p')
+    endif
+    if filewritable(directory) != 2
+      call xolox#misc#msg#warn("notes.vim %s: The notes directory %s is not writable!", g:xolox#notes#version, directory)
+    endif
+  endfor
 endfunction
 
 function! xolox#notes#shortcut() " {{{1
@@ -595,6 +602,17 @@ endfunction
 
 " Miscellaneous functions. {{{1
 
+function! xolox#notes#find_directories(include_shadow_directory) " {{{2
+  " Generate a list of absolute pathnames of all notes directories.
+  let directories = copy(g:notes_directories)
+  " Add the shadow directory?
+  if a:include_shadow_directory
+    call add(directories, g:notes_shadowdir)
+  endif
+  " Return the expanded directory pathnames.
+  return map(directories, 'expand(v:val)')
+endfunction
+
 function! xolox#notes#set_filetype() " {{{2
   " Load the notes file type if not already loaded.
   if &filetype != 'notes'
@@ -646,7 +664,14 @@ endfunction
 
 function! xolox#notes#buffer_is_note() " {{{2
   " Check whether the current buffer is a note (with the correct file type and path).
-  return xolox#notes#filetype_is_note(&ft) && xolox#misc#path#equals(expand('%:p:h'), g:notes_directory)
+  let bufpath = expand('%:p:h')
+  if xolox#notes#filetype_is_note(&ft)
+    for directory in xolox#notes#find_directories(1)
+      if xolox#misc#path#equals(bufpath, directory)
+        return 1
+      endif
+    endfor
+  endif
 endfunction
 
 function! xolox#notes#current_title() " {{{2
@@ -771,10 +796,13 @@ function! s:python_command(...) " {{{2
   if !(executable(python) && filereadable(script))
     call xolox#misc#msg#debug("notes.vim %s: We can't execute the %s script!", g:xolox#notes#version, script)
   else
-    let options = ['--database', g:notes_indexfile, '--notes', g:notes_directory]
+    let options = ['--database', g:notes_indexfile]
     if &ignorecase
       call add(options, '--ignore-case')
     endif
+    for directory in xolox#notes#find_directories(0)
+      call extend(options, ['--notes', directory])
+    endfor
     let arguments = map([script] + options + a:000, 'xolox#misc#escape#shell(v:val)')
     let command = join([python] + arguments)
     call xolox#misc#msg#debug("notes.vim %s: Executing external command %s", g:xolox#notes#version, command)
@@ -812,9 +840,11 @@ function! xolox#notes#get_fnames(include_shadow_notes) " {{{3
   " Get list with filenames of all existing notes.
   if !s:have_cached_names
     let starttime = xolox#misc#timer#start()
-    let pattern = xolox#misc#path#merge(g:notes_directory, '*')
-    let listing = glob(xolox#misc#path#absolute(pattern))
-    call extend(s:cached_fnames, filter(split(listing, '\n'), 'filereadable(v:val)'))
+    for directory in xolox#notes#find_directories(0)
+      let pattern = xolox#misc#path#merge(directory, '*')
+      let listing = glob(xolox#misc#path#absolute(pattern))
+      call extend(s:cached_fnames, filter(split(listing, '\n'), 'filereadable(v:val)'))
+    endfor
     let s:have_cached_names = 1
     call xolox#misc#timer#stop('notes.vim %s: Cached note filenames in %s.', g:xolox#notes#version, starttime)
   endif
@@ -891,12 +921,25 @@ function! xolox#notes#title_to_fname(title) " {{{3
   " Convert note {title} to absolute filename.
   let filename = xolox#misc#path#encode(a:title)
   if filename != ''
-    let pathname = xolox#misc#path#merge(g:notes_directory, filename . g:notes_suffix)
+    let directory = xolox#notes#select_directory()
+    let pathname = xolox#misc#path#merge(directory, filename . g:notes_suffix)
     return xolox#misc#path#absolute(pathname)
   endif
   return ''
 endfunction
 
+function! xolox#notes#select_directory() " {{{3
+  " Pick the best suited directory for creating a new note.
+  let bufdir = expand('%:p:h')
+  let notes_directories = xolox#notes#find_directories(0)
+  for directory in notes_directories
+    if xolox#misc#path#equals(bufdir, directory)
+      return directory
+    endif
+  endfor
+  return notes_directories[0]
+endfunction
+
 function! xolox#notes#cache_add(filename, title) " {{{3
   " Add {filename} and {title} of new note to cache.
   let filename = xolox#misc#path#absolute(a:filename)

doc/notes.txt

@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ Contents ~
  1. Introduction                                            |notes-introduction|
  2. Install & usage                                        |notes-install-usage|
  3. Options                                                      |notes-options|
-  1. The |g:notes_directory| option
+  1. The |g:notes_directories| option
+   1. Backwards compatibility                    |notes-backwards-compatibility|
   2. The |g:notes_suffix| option
   3. The |g:notes_title_sync| option
   4. The |g:notes_smart_quotes| option
@@ -134,17 +135,18 @@ installation you don't need to change any options. They're available for
 people who like to customize their directory layout. These options can be
 configured in your |vimrc| script by including a line like this:
 >
-    :let g:notes_directory = '~/Documents/Notes'
+    :let g:notes_directories = ['~/Documents/Notes', '~/Dropbox/Shared Notes']
 
 Note that after changing an option in your |vimrc| script you have to restart
 Vim for the changes to take effect.
 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-The *g:notes_directory* option
+The *g:notes_directories* option
 
-All your notes are stored together in one directory. This option defines the
-path of this directory. The default value depends on circumstances but should
-work for most people:
+Your notes are stored in one or more directories. This option defines where
+you want to store your notes. Its value should be a list (there's an example
+above) with one or more pathnames. The default is a single value which depends
+on circumstances but should work for most people:
 
  - If the profile directory where the plug-in is installed is writable, the
    directory 'misc/notes/user' under the profile directory is used. This is
@@ -155,6 +157,22 @@ work for most people:
    '~/vimfiles/misc/notes/user' on Windows and '~/.vim/misc/notes/user' on
    other platforms.
 
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+                                                 *notes-backwards-compatibility*
+Backwards compatibility ~
+
+In the past the notes plug-in only supported a single directory and the
+corresponding option was called 'g:notes_directory'. When support for multiple
+notes directories was introduced the option was renamed to
+|g:notes_directories| to reflect that the value is now a list of directory
+pathnames.
+
+For backwards compatibility with old configurations (all of them as of this
+writing :-) the notes plug-in still uses 'g:notes_directory' when it is
+defined (its no longer defined by the plug-in). However when the plug-in warns
+you to change your configuration you probably should because this
+compatibility will be removed at some point.
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 The *g:notes_suffix* option
 
@@ -266,17 +284,18 @@ can recreate it manually by executing |:IndexTaggedNotes| (see below).
                                                                 *notes-commands*
 Commands ~
 
-To edit one of your existing notes you can use Vim commands such as |:edit|,
-|:split| and |:tabedit| with a filename that starts with note: followed by (part
-of) the title of one of your notes, e.g.:
+To edit one of your existing notes (or create a new one) you can use Vim
+commands such as |:edit|, |:split| and |:tabedit| with a filename that starts with
+note: followed by (part of) the title of one of your notes, e.g.:
 >
     :edit note:todo
 
 This shortcut also works from the command line:
 >
     $ gvim note:todo
 
-When you don't follow note: with anything a new note is created.
+When you don't follow note: with anything a new note is created like when you
+execute |:Note| without any arguments.
 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 The *:Note* command
@@ -290,6 +309,11 @@ new note is started with the given word(s) as title.
 This command will fail when changes have been made to the current buffer,
 unless you use ':Note!' which discards any changes.
 
+When you are using multiple directories to store your notes and you run
+|:Note| while editing an existing note, a new note will inherit the directory
+of the note from which you started. Otherwise the note is created in the first
+directory in |g:notes_directories|.
+
 This command supports tab completion: If you complete one word, all existing
 notes containing the given word somewhere in their title are suggested. If you
 type more than one word separated by spaces, the plug-in will complete only
@@ -305,6 +329,10 @@ because it's intended to be executed from a mapping. The default mapping for
 this command is '\en' (the backslash is actually the character defined by the
 |mapleader| variable).
 
+When you are using multiple directories to store your notes and you run
+|:NoteFromSelectedText| while editing an existing note, the new note will
+inherit the directory of the note from which it was created.
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 The *:SplitNoteFromSelectedText* command