folio v0.2.1: slides, Python on your data, reports with references

[tinpotnick]

Present any document as slides, run Python on your data, and write reports with real references. folio's biggest release yet: still one plain Markdown file.

Try it in your browser: no install, nothing uploaded.

Present as slides

• Press ▶ and any document becomes a deck: one slide per section (each ## heading), full screen. The file doesn't change: it's still the same Markdown.
• A presenter window shows your speaker notes on your screen while the projector stays clean.
• Deck themes come with dark and light looks. Export to PDF while playing gives a 16:9 handout.

Python on your data

• A python block with data=@sales out=fit,slope reads your tables and publishes results back into the document.
  • Tables become datasets that charts and other tables can use.
  • Single numbers become values a formula reads, e.g. @slope * 30.
• It runs offline, sealed off from the network. Its results are saved in the document, so charts appear before Python has even loaded.
• See the Coffee forecast example.

Data you can trust

• Import data from the web, or from open-data publishers (Bank of England, ONS, OECD, HM Land Registry, ECB, Eurostat), cited automatically with the date it was retrieved.
• Data you may not share is marked Personal use only on the table, its charts and its reference. Print and Export remind you before it leaves your hands.
• Money and date formulas: pmt, fv, rate, npv, irr, edate, eomonth, xlookup, asof and more. You can type them the spreadsheet way: =PMT(4.5%/12, 300, 250000).
• Blank cells stay blank in formulas and charts, instead of quietly becoming 0.
• Read a chart's values: point at a chart, or Tab to it and use the arrow keys, to see the exact numbers at each point.
• See the Repay or invest? example: a mortgage question answered with real data back to 1975.

Writing like a report

• Footnotes in GitHub's syntax.
• Citations and a reference list in Pandoc's syntax, from your own BibTeX.
• Numbered tables and figures, and cross-references ("see Table 2") that stay right as things move.
• A table of contents that keeps itself up to date.
• Page numbers and a running header on printed and exported pages.

Tables and drawings

• Tables:
  • A table recalculates when you leave a cell, so typing in a table that feeds others no longer lags.
  • Choose how many rows each table shows in the page; charts still use every row.
  • Pressing Enter to confirm a value no longer leaves a stray empty row.
• Drawings: a drawing can show its drawing, its code, or both, and printing follows your choice. A 3D model follows the table row you're editing.
• Big documents open fast: charts, diagrams and models draw as you scroll to them, and the page doesn't jump when they appear.

Help when you need it

• Help opens in a panel beside your document, so you can read a topic and try it at the same time. Search it from the panel or with Ctrl+K.
• F1 opens and closes help, even while typing.

Install

• Linux:
  • Flatpak, Fedora (dnf), Debian/Ubuntu (apt): add folio's repository once and it updates with your system. See the install steps.
  • Or download the .AppImage, .rpm or .deb below.
• Windows: the .msi or -setup.exe below.
• macOS: the .dmg below, a universal build for Apple silicon and Intel.

The Windows and macOS builds aren't code-signed yet:

• macOS: right-click the app and choose Open the first time.
• Windows: if SmartScreen warns, choose More info → Run anyway.

About 0.2.0: it was published by mistake from an earlier commit. It has Linux packages only, and bugs fixed in this release (3D models not drawing, slides overflowing). Please use 0.2.1.

folio is young: expect rough edges, and please report them. Your documents are plain Markdown, so they stay readable whatever happens to folio.

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This discussion was created from the release folio v0.2.1: slides, Python on your data, reports with references.