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1 | \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- |
2 | @c %**start of header | |
3 | @setfilename ../../info/remember | |
4 | @settitle Remember Manual | |
5 | @c %**end of header | |
6 | ||
7 | @dircategory Emacs | |
8 | @direntry | |
9 | * Remember: (remember). Simple information manager for Emacs | |
10 | @end direntry | |
11 | ||
12 | @syncodeindex fn cp | |
13 | ||
14 | @copying | |
15 | This manual is for Remember Mode, version 1.9 | |
16 | ||
17 | Copyright @copyright{} 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. | |
18 | ||
19 | @quotation | |
20 | Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document | |
21 | under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 | |
22 | or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; | |
23 | with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover | |
24 | Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU | |
25 | Free Documentation License''. | |
26 | @end quotation | |
27 | @end copying | |
28 | ||
29 | @titlepage | |
30 | @title Guide to Remember Mode | |
31 | @subtitle a simple information manager | |
32 | @subtitle for Emacs and XEmacs | |
33 | ||
34 | @c The following two commands | |
35 | @c start the copyright page. | |
36 | @page | |
37 | @vskip 0pt plus 1filll | |
38 | @insertcopying | |
39 | @end titlepage | |
40 | ||
41 | @c So the toc is printed at the start | |
42 | @contents | |
43 | ||
44 | @ifnottex | |
45 | @node Top, Preface, (dir), (dir) | |
46 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
47 | @top Remember | |
48 | ||
49 | @insertcopying | |
50 | @end ifnottex | |
51 | ||
52 | @menu | |
53 | * Preface:: About the documentation. | |
54 | * Introduction:: What is Remember Mode? | |
55 | * Installation:: How to install Remember. | |
56 | * Implementation:: How Remember came into existence. | |
57 | * Quick Start:: Get started using Remember. | |
15f3eb73 | 58 | * Function Reference:: Interactive functions in remember.el. |
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59 | * Keystrokes:: Keystrokes bound in Remember Mode. |
60 | * Backends:: Backends for saving notes. | |
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61 | * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation. |
62 | * Concept Index:: Search for terms. | |
63 | ||
64 | @detailmenu | |
65 | --- The Detailed Node Listing --- | |
66 | ||
67 | Backends | |
68 | ||
69 | * Text File:: Saving to a text file. | |
bec9b2f5 | 70 | * Diary:: Saving to a Diary file. |
15f3eb73 | 71 | * Mailbox:: Saving to a mailbox. |
bec9b2f5 | 72 | * Org:: Saving to an Org Mode file. |
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73 | |
74 | @end detailmenu | |
75 | @end menu | |
76 | ||
77 | @node Preface, Introduction, Top, Top | |
78 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
79 | @chapter Preface | |
80 | ||
81 | This document describes remember-el, which was written by John Wiegley, | |
82 | was once maintained by Sacha Chua, and is now maintained by the Emacs | |
83 | developers. | |
84 | ||
85 | This document is a work in progress, and your contribution will be | |
86 | greatly appreciated. | |
87 | ||
88 | @node Introduction, Installation, Preface, Top | |
89 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
90 | @chapter Introduction | |
91 | ||
92 | Todo lists, schedules, phone databases... everything we use databases | |
93 | for is really just a way to extend the power of our memory, to be able | |
94 | to remember what our conscious mind may not currently have access to. | |
95 | ||
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96 | There are many different databases out there---and good ones---which |
97 | this mode is not trying to replace. Rather, it's how that data gets | |
98 | there that's the question. Most of the time, we just want to say | |
99 | "Remember so-and-so's phone number, or that I have to buy dinner for the | |
100 | cats tonight." That's the FACT. How it's stored is really the | |
101 | computer's problem. But at this point in time, it's most definitely | |
102 | also the user's problem, and sometimes so laboriously so that people | |
103 | just let data slip, rather than expend the effort to record it. | |
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104 | |
105 | ``Remember'' is a mode for remembering data. It uses whatever | |
106 | back-end is appropriate to record and correlate the data, but its main | |
107 | intention is to allow you to express as @emph{little} structure as | |
108 | possible up front. If you later want to express more powerful | |
109 | relationships between your data, or state assumptions that were at | |
110 | first too implicit to be recognized, you can ``study'' the data later | |
111 | and rearrange it. But the initial ``just remember this'' impulse | |
112 | should be as close to simply throwing the data at Emacs as possible. | |
113 | ||
114 | Have you ever noticed that having a laptop to write on doesn't | |
115 | @emph{actually} increase the amount of quality material that you turn | |
116 | out, in the long run? Perhaps it's because the time we save | |
117 | electronically in one way, we're losing electronically in another; the | |
118 | tool should never dominate one's focus. As the mystic Faridu'd-Din | |
119 | `Attar wrote: ``Be occupied as little as possible with things of the | |
120 | outer world but much with things of the inner world; then right action | |
121 | will overcome inaction.'' | |
122 | ||
123 | If Emacs could become a more intelligent data store, where brainstorming | |
124 | would focus on the @emph{ideas} involved---rather than the structuring | |
125 | and format of those ideas, or having to stop your current flow of work | |
126 | in order to record them---it would map much more closely to how the mind | |
127 | (well, at least mine) works, and hence would eliminate that very | |
128 | manual-ness which computers from the very beginning have been championed | |
129 | as being able to reduce. | |
130 | ||
131 | @node Installation, Implementation, Introduction, Top | |
132 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
133 | @chapter Installation | |
134 | ||
135 | Installing Remember Mode is as simple as adding the following lines to | |
136 | your Emacs configuration file (usually @file{~/.emacs.d/init.el} or | |
137 | @file{~/.emacs}). | |
138 | ||
139 | @lisp | |
140 | (add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/remember") | |
141 | (require 'remember) | |
142 | @end lisp | |
143 | ||
144 | @node Implementation, Quick Start, Installation, Top | |
145 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
146 | @chapter Implementation | |
147 | ||
148 | Hyperbole, as a data presentation tool, always struck me as being very | |
149 | powerful, but it seemed to require a lot of ``front-end'' work before | |
150 | that data was really available. The problem with BBDB, or keeping up | |
151 | a Bibl-mode file, is that you have to use different functions to | |
152 | record the data, and it always takes time to stop what you're doing, | |
153 | format the data in the manner expected by that particular data | |
154 | interface, and then resume your work. | |
155 | ||
156 | With ``remember'', you just hit @kbd{M-x remember} (you'd probably | |
157 | want to bind this to an easily accessible keystroke, like @kbd{C-x | |
158 | M-r}), slam in your text however you like, and then hit @kbd{C-c C-c}. | |
159 | It will file the data away for later retrieval, and possibly indexing. | |
160 | ||
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161 | Indexing is to data what ``studying'' is in the real world. What you do |
162 | when you study (or lucubrate, for some of us) is to realize certain | |
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163 | relationships implicit in the data, so that you can make use of those |
164 | relationships. Expressing that a certain quote you remembered was a | |
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165 | literary quote, and that you want the ability to pull up all quotes of a |
166 | literary nature, is what studying does. This is a more labor intensive | |
167 | task than the original remembering of the data, and it's typical in real | |
168 | life to set aside a special period of time for doing this work. | |
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169 | |
170 | ``Remember'' works in the same way. When you enter data, either by | |
171 | typing it into a buffer, or using the contents of the selected region, | |
172 | it will store that data---unindexed, uninterpreted---in a data pool. | |
173 | It will also try to remember as much context information as possible | |
174 | (any text properties that were set, where you copied it from, when, | |
175 | how, etc). Later, you can walk through your accumulated set of data | |
176 | (both organized, and unorganized) and easily begin moving things | |
177 | around, and making annotations that will express the full meaning of | |
178 | that data, as far as you know it. | |
179 | ||
180 | Obviously this latter stage is more user-interface intensive, and it | |
181 | would be nice if ``remember'' could do it as elegantly as possible, | |
182 | rather than requiring a billion keystrokes to reorganize your | |
183 | hierarchy. Well, as the future arrives, hopefully experience and user | |
184 | feedback will help to make this as intuitive a tool as possible. | |
185 | ||
7d3f6f1a | 186 | @node Quick Start, Function Reference, Implementation, Top |
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187 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up |
188 | @chapter Quick Start | |
189 | ||
190 | @itemize | |
191 | ||
192 | @item | |
193 | Load @file{remember.el}. | |
194 | ||
195 | @item | |
196 | Type @kbd{M-x remember}. The @samp{*Remember*} buffer should be | |
197 | displayed. | |
198 | ||
199 | @item | |
200 | Type in what you want to remember. The first line will be treated as | |
201 | the headline, and the rest of the buffer will contain the body of the | |
202 | note. | |
203 | ||
204 | @item | |
6159985a | 205 | Type @kbd{C-c C-c} (@code{remember-finalize}) to save the note and close |
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206 | the @samp{*Remember*} buffer. |
207 | @end itemize | |
208 | ||
6159985a | 209 | By default, @code{remember-finalize} saves the note in @file{~/.notes}. |
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210 | You can edit it now to see the remembered and timestamped note. You |
211 | can edit this file however you want. New entries will always be added | |
212 | to the end. | |
213 | ||
214 | To remember a region of text, use the universal prefix. @kbd{C-u M-x | |
215 | remember} displays a @samp{*Remember*} buffer with the region as the | |
216 | initial contents. | |
217 | ||
218 | As a simple beginning, you can start by using the Text File backend, | |
219 | keeping your @file{~/.notes} file in outline-mode format, with a final | |
220 | entry called @samp{* Raw data}. Remembered data will be added to the | |
221 | end of the file. Every so often, you can move the data that gets | |
222 | appended there into other files, or reorganize your document. | |
223 | ||
224 | You can also store remembered data in other backends. | |
225 | (@pxref{Backends}) | |
226 | ||
227 | Here is one way to map the remember functions in your @file{.emacs} to | |
228 | very accessible keystrokes facilities using the mode: | |
229 | ||
230 | @lisp | |
231 | (autoload 'remember ``remember'' nil t) | |
232 | (autoload 'remember-region ``remember'' nil t) | |
233 | ||
234 | (define-key global-map (kbd "<f9> r") 'remember) | |
235 | (define-key global-map (kbd "<f9> R") 'remember-region) | |
236 | @end lisp | |
237 | ||
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238 | By default, remember uses the first annotation returned by |
239 | @code{remember-annotation-functions}. To include all of the annotations, | |
240 | set @code{remember-run-all-annotation-functions-flag} to non-nil. | |
241 | ||
242 | @defopt remember-run-all-annotation-functions-flag | |
243 | Non-nil means use all annotations returned by | |
244 | @code{remember-annotation-functions}. | |
245 | @end defopt | |
246 | ||
247 | You can write custom functions that use a different set of | |
248 | remember-annotation-functions. For example: | |
249 | ||
250 | @lisp | |
251 | (defun my/remember-with-filename () | |
252 | "Always use the filename." | |
253 | (interactive) | |
254 | (let ((remember-annotation-functions '(buffer-file-name))) | |
255 | (call-interactively 'remember))) | |
256 | @end lisp | |
257 | ||
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258 | @node Function Reference, Keystrokes, Quick Start, Top |
259 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
260 | @chapter Function Reference | |
261 | ||
262 | @file{remember.el} defines the following interactive functions: | |
263 | ||
264 | @defun remember initial | |
265 | Remember an arbitrary piece of data. With a prefix, it will use the | |
266 | region as @var{initial}. | |
267 | @end defun | |
268 | ||
269 | @defun remember-region beg end | |
270 | If called from within the remember buffer, @var{beg} and @var{end} are | |
271 | ignored, and the entire buffer will be remembered. If called from any | |
272 | other buffer, that region, plus any context information specific to | |
273 | that region, will be remembered. | |
274 | @end defun | |
275 | ||
276 | @defun remember-clipboard | |
277 | Remember the contents of the current clipboard. This is most useful | |
278 | for remembering things from Netscape or other X Windows applications. | |
279 | @end defun | |
280 | ||
6159985a | 281 | @defun remember-finalize |
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282 | Remember the contents of the current buffer. |
283 | @end defun | |
284 | ||
285 | @defun remember-mode | |
286 | This enters the major mode for output from @command{remember}. This | |
287 | buffer is used to collect data that you want remember. Just hit | |
288 | @kbd{C-c C-c} when you're done entering, and it will go ahead and file | |
289 | the data for latter retrieval, and possible indexing. | |
290 | @end defun | |
291 | ||
292 | @node Keystrokes, Backends, Function Reference, Top | |
293 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
294 | @chapter Keystroke Reference | |
295 | ||
296 | @file{remember.el} defines the following keybindings by default: | |
297 | ||
298 | @table @kbd | |
299 | ||
6159985a | 300 | @item C-c C-c (`remember-finalize') |
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301 | Remember the contents of the current buffer. |
302 | ||
303 | @item C-c C-k (`remember-destroy') | |
304 | Destroy the current *Remember* buffer. | |
305 | ||
6159985a | 306 | @item C-x C-s (`remember-finalize') |
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307 | Remember the contents of the current buffer. |
308 | ||
309 | @end table | |
310 | ||
bec9b2f5 | 311 | @node Backends, GNU Free Documentation License, Keystrokes, Top |
7d3f6f1a | 312 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up |
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313 | @chapter Backends |
314 | ||
315 | You can save remembered notes to a variety of backends. | |
316 | ||
317 | @menu | |
318 | * Text File:: Saving to a text file. | |
bec9b2f5 | 319 | * Diary:: Saving to a Diary file. |
15f3eb73 | 320 | * Mailbox:: Saving to a mailbox. |
bec9b2f5 | 321 | * Org:: Saving to an Org Mode file. |
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322 | @end menu |
323 | ||
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324 | @node Text File, Diary, Backends, Backends |
325 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
15f3eb73 | 326 | @section Saving to a Text File |
bec9b2f5 | 327 | @cindex text file, saving to |
15f3eb73 | 328 | |
bec9b2f5 | 329 | @subheading Insinuation |
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330 | |
331 | @lisp | |
332 | (setq remember-handler-functions '(remember-append-to-file)) | |
333 | @end lisp | |
334 | ||
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335 | @subheading Options |
336 | ||
15f3eb73 | 337 | @defopt remember-data-file |
bec9b2f5 | 338 | The file in which to store unprocessed data. |
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339 | @end defopt |
340 | ||
341 | @defopt remember-leader-text | |
bec9b2f5 | 342 | The text used to begin each remember item. |
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343 | @end defopt |
344 | ||
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345 | @node Diary, Mailbox, Text File, Backends |
346 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
347 | @section Saving to a Diary file | |
348 | @cindex diary, integration | |
15f3eb73 | 349 | |
bec9b2f5 | 350 | @subheading Insinuation |
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351 | |
352 | @lisp | |
bec9b2f5 | 353 | (add-to-list 'remember-handler-functions 'remember-diary-extract-entries) |
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354 | @end lisp |
355 | ||
bec9b2f5 | 356 | @subheading Options |
15f3eb73 | 357 | |
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358 | @defopt remember-diary-file |
359 | File for extracted diary entries. | |
3728bf03 | 360 | If this is nil, then @code{diary-file} will be used instead." |
bec9b2f5 | 361 | @end defopt |
15f3eb73 | 362 | |
bec9b2f5 | 363 | @node Mailbox, Org, Diary, Backends |
15f3eb73 | 364 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up |
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365 | @section Saving to a Mailbox |
366 | @cindex mailbox, saving to | |
15f3eb73 | 367 | |
bec9b2f5 | 368 | @subheading Insinuation |
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369 | |
370 | @lisp | |
bec9b2f5 | 371 | (add-to-list 'remember-handler-functions 'remember-store-in-mailbox) |
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372 | @end lisp |
373 | ||
bec9b2f5 | 374 | @subheading Options |
15f3eb73 | 375 | |
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376 | @defopt remember-mailbox |
377 | The file in which to store remember data as mail. | |
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378 | @end defopt |
379 | ||
bec9b2f5 MO |
380 | @defopt remember-default-priority |
381 | The default priority for remembered mail messages. | |
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382 | @end defopt |
383 | ||
bec9b2f5 | 384 | @node Org, , Mailbox, Backends |
15f3eb73 | 385 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up |
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386 | @section Saving to an Org Mode file |
387 | @cindex org mode, integration | |
388 | ||
389 | For instructions on how to integrate Remember with Org Mode, | |
390 | consult @ref{Remember, , , org}. | |
15f3eb73 | 391 | |
bec9b2f5 | 392 | @node GNU Free Documentation License, Concept Index, Backends, Top |
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393 | @appendix GNU Free Documentation License |
394 | @include doclicense.texi | |
395 | ||
396 | @node Concept Index, , GNU Free Documentation License, Top | |
397 | @comment node-name, next, previous, up | |
398 | @unnumbered Index | |
399 | ||
400 | @printindex cp | |
401 | ||
402 | @bye | |
904fac67 MB |
403 | |
404 | @ignore | |
405 | arch-tag: 5b980db0-20cc-4167-b845-52dc11d53b9f | |
406 | @end ignore |