Guidance needed - "Bullet Journal" idea for language / plugin

[Bob Thomas]

Hello,

I have been using a system of note taking and journaling that is very similar to something called “Bullet Journal” that I just heard about. It is still pencil and paper based, so there are all of those flaws (no cut and paste, etc. etc.).

link text

I was wondering if Notepad++ would get me what I want. Essentially, I want it to recognize the notation and do things like automatically indent and bullet, and insert the current date, and be able to collapse blocks of text…

I think Notepad++ should be able to do these things, but I am wondering what approach would be best. Should I just define a new language with this formatting? A plugin?

Has anyone tried something like this? I’m sure the bullet journal people would be ecstatic. =)

TIA for any help!

Bob

[Claudia Frank]

@Bob-Thomas

not quite sure if I understand your request correctly.
Does this mean you have a pen as keyboard replacement and want to write
something, on whatever surface, which then appears in notepad++?
In addition, it should automatically structure your text, correct?

If so, the first thing would be to have an interface/api which provides access
to the pen driver to get the information you write converted and
second step would be writing a lexer which is responsible for formatting your words.

As npp doesn’t have this builtin (pen driver api) you most likely need to develop
a plugin to make this work.

Cheers
Claudia

[Bob Thomas]

Thank you Claudia!

Mostly I was wondering about the auto formatting and auto-complete features in N++ … I already have the pen part figured out. =)

[gstavi]

Some comments.
Notepad++ mostly deals with one text file at a time, there are no cross references. This system you describe seems to manage multiple lists in a related fashion so I am not sure that doing it in a single text file is the best approach. Things like Microsoft OneNote or Desktop Wiki Zim seem more suitable.

One thing that can be done relatively easily is to develop a lexer that will color lines based on the system. This should be easy as it should basically color entire lines based on the prefix.

Auto indentation is a bit different. Notepad++ is not wysiwyg. It shows files “as they are” so this requires active manipulation of the text, mainly adding and deleting spaces. Personally I am not a fan of plugins that manipulate my text. They should be implemented carefully so the plugin does not damage the data.

[Claudia Frank]

Well I don’t see a problem using auto indention but gstavis statement is absolutly valid about formatting words, (color, font, size, style etc…). Npp does not store those formatting stuff - the lexer is responsible to always
to its stuff when file gets loaded or modified.

Cheers
Claudia

[Bob Thomas]

Thanks for the info guys! I think I have what I need to proceed.