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Using Emacs Lisp to export TXT/EPUB/PDF from Org Mode to the Supernote via Browse and Access

| supernote, org, emacs

I've been experimenting with the Supernote's Browse and Access feature because I want to be able to upload files quickly instead of waiting for Dropbox to synchronize. First, I want to store the IP address in a variable:

my-supernote-ip-address
(defvar my-supernote-ip-address "192.168.1.221")

Here's how to upload: 

(defun my-supernote-upload (filename &optional supernote-path)
  (interactive "FFile: ")
  (setq supernote-path (or supernote-path "/INBOX"))
  (let* ((boundary (mml-compute-boundary '()))
         (url-request-method "POST")
         (url-request-extra-headers
          `(("Content-Type" . ,(format "multipart/form-data; boundary=%s" boundary))))
         (url-request-data
          (mm-url-encode-multipart-form-data
           `(("file" . (("name" . "file")
                        ("filename" . ,(file-name-nondirectory filename))
                        ("content-type" . "application/octet-stream")
                        ("filedata" . ,(with-temp-buffer
                                         (insert-file-contents-literally filename)
                                         (buffer-substring-no-properties (point-min) (point-max)))))))
           boundary)))
    (with-current-buffer
        (url-retrieve-synchronously
         (format "http://%s:8089%s" my-supernote-ip-address supernote-path))
      (re-search-backward "^$")
      (prog1 (json-read)
        (kill-buffer)))))

HTML isn't supported. Text works, but it doesn't support annotation. PDF or EPUB could work. It would make sense to register this as an export backend so that I can call it as part of the usual export process. 

(defun my-supernote-org-upload-as-text (&optional async subtree visible-only body-only ext-plist)
  "Export Org format, but save it with a .txt extension."
  (interactive (list nil current-prefix-arg))
  (let ((filename (org-export-output-file-name ".txt" subtree))
        (text (org-export-as 'org subtree visible-only body-only ext-plist)))
    ;; consider copying instead of exporting so that #+begin_export html etc. is preserved
    (with-temp-file filename
      (insert text))
    (my-supernote-upload filename)))

(defun my-supernote-org-upload-as-pdf (&optional async subtree visible-only body-only ext-plist)
  (interactive (list nil current-prefix-arg))
  (my-supernote-upload (org-latex-export-to-pdf async subtree visible-only body-only ext-plist)))

(defun my-supernote-org-upload-as-epub (&optional async subtree visible-only body-only ext-plist)
  (interactive (list nil current-prefix-arg))
  (my-supernote-upload (org-epub-export-to-epub async subtree visible-only ext-plist)))

(org-export-define-backend
    'supernote nil
    :menu-entry '(?s "Supernote"
                     ((?s "as PDF" my-supernote-org-upload-as-pdf)
                      (?e "as EPUB" my-supernote-org-upload-as-epub)
                      (?o "as Org" my-supernote-org-upload-as-text))))

Adding this line to my Org file allows me to use \spacing{1.5} for 1.5 line spacing, so I can write in more annotations.. 

#+LATEX_HEADER+: \usepackage{setspace}

Sometimes I use custom blocks for HTML classes. When LaTeX complains about undefined environments, I can define them like this: 

#+LATEX_HEADER+: \newenvironment{whatever_my_custom_environment_is_called}

Now I can export a subtree or file to my Supernote for easy review.

I wonder if multimodal AI models can handle annotated images with editing marks…

This is part of my Emacs configuration.
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Include inline SVGs in Org Mode HTML and Markdown exports

Posted: - Modified: | emacs, org
  • [2024-10-07 Mon]: Now I can specify #+ATTR_HTML :data-link t to make it link instead of include.
  • [2024-09-26 Thu]: Whoops, forgot to make sure ox-11ty is also covered.

In my Org Mode HTML and Markdown exports, I usually want to include SVGs inline so that I can use links. Sometimes I also want to use Javascript and CSS to modify elements within the images. I used to use a my-include: link to do this, but I realized that I can also modify this behaviour by making my own functions that call org-html-link or org-md-link and then put those functions in org-export-backend-transcoders.

Here is an example of an SVG:

g Graphviz Graphviz Org Mode Org Mode Graphviz->Org Mode SVG HTML HTML Org Mode->HTML Markdown Markdown Org Mode->Markdown

The following code overrides HTML and Markdown exports to include SVGs. 

(defun my-ox-link-path (link _ info)
  (let* ((raw-path (org-element-property :path link)))
    (setq raw-path
          (org-export-file-uri
           (org-publish-file-relative-name raw-path info)))
    ;; Possibly append `:html-link-home' to relative file
    ;; name.
    (let ((home (and (plist-get info :html-link-home)
                     (org-trim (plist-get info :html-link-home)))))
      (when (and home
                 (plist-get info :html-link-use-abs-url)
                 (not (file-name-absolute-p raw-path)))
        (setq raw-path (concat (file-name-as-directory home) raw-path))))
    raw-path))

(defun my-org-html-link (link desc info)
  (if (and
       (string= (org-element-property :type link) "file")
       (not (plist-get (org-export-read-attribute :attr_html (org-element-parent-element link))
                       :data-link))
       (org-export-inline-image-p link (plist-get info :html-inline-image-rules)))
      (let ((path (my-ox-link-path link desc info)))
        (if (string= (file-name-extension path) "svg")
            (with-temp-buffer
              (insert-file-contents-literally path)
              (buffer-string))
          (org-html-link link desc info)))
    (org-html-link link desc info)))

(defun my-org-md-link (link desc info)
  (if (and (string= (org-element-property :type link) "file")
           (not (plist-get (org-export-read-attribute :attr_html (org-element-parent-element link))
                       :data-link)))
      (let ((path (my-ox-link-path link desc info)))
        (if (string= (file-name-extension path) "svg")
            (with-temp-buffer
              (insert-file-contents-literally path)
              (buffer-string))
          (org-md-link link desc info)))
    (org-md-link link desc info)))

(defun my-org-11ty-link (link desc info)
  (if (and (string= (org-element-property :type link) "file")
           (not (plist-get (org-export-read-attribute :attr_html (org-element-parent-element link))
                       :data-link)))
      (let ((path (my-ox-link-path link desc info)))
        (if (string= (file-name-extension path) "svg")
            (with-temp-buffer
              (insert-file-contents-literally path)
              (buffer-string))
          (org-11ty-link link desc info)))
    (org-11ty-link link desc info)))

(with-eval-after-load 'ox-html
  (setf
   (alist-get 'link (org-export-backend-transcoders (org-export-get-backend 'html)))
   'my-org-html-link))
(with-eval-after-load 'ox-md
  (setf
   (alist-get 'link (org-export-backend-transcoders (org-export-get-backend 'md)))
   'my-org-md-link))
(with-eval-after-load 'ox-11ty
  (setf
   (alist-get 'link (org-export-backend-transcoders (org-export-get-backend '11ty)))
   'my-org-11ty-link))
This is part of my Emacs configuration.
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org-attaching the latest image from my Supernote via Browse and Access

Posted: - Modified: | emacs, supernote, org

[2024-09-29 Sun]: Use sketch links when possible. Recolor before cropping so that the grid is removed.

2024-09-26-01 Supernote A5X Browse and Access %23supernote.png
Figure 1: Diagram of different ways to get drawings off my Supernote A5X
Text from sketch

Supernote A5X

  • Screen mirroring (pixelated) -> Puppeteer screenshot (or maybe .mjpeg?)
  • Browse & Access (HTTP) -> latest file: recognize text, recolor, crop, upload?
  • Dropbox/Google Drive (slow) -> batch process: recognize text, recolor, upload

Bonus: Autocropping encourages me to just get stuff out there even if I haven't filled a page

ideas: remove template automatically? I wonder if I can use another color…

2024-09-26-01

I want to quickly get drawings from my Supernote A5X into Emacs so that I can include them in blog posts. Dropbox/Google Drive sync is slow because it synchronizes all the files. The Supernote can mirror its screen as an .mjpeg stream. I couldn't figure out how to grab a frame from that, but I did find out how to use Puppeteer to take an screenshot of the Supernote's screen mirror. Still, the resulting image is a little pixelated. If I turn on Browse and Access, the Supernote can serve directories and files as webpages. This lets me grab the latest file and process it. I don't often have time to fill a full A5 page with thoughts, so autocropping the image encourages me to get stuff out there instead of holding on to things. 

(defvar my-supernote-ip-address "192.168.1.221")
(defun my-supernote-get-exported-files ()
  (let ((data (plz 'get (format "http://%s:8089/EXPORT" my-supernote-ip-address)))
        (list))
    (when (string-match "const json = '\\(.*\\)'" data)
      (sort
       (alist-get 'fileList (json-parse-string (match-string 1 data) :object-type 'alist :array-type 'list))
       :key (lambda (o) (alist-get 'date o))
       :lessp 'string<
       :reverse t))))

(defun my-supernote-org-attach-latest-exported-file ()
  (interactive)
  ;; save the file to the screenshot directory
  (let ((info (car (my-supernote-get-exported-files)))
        new-file
        renamed)
    ;; delete matching files
    (setq new-file (expand-file-name
                    (replace-regexp-in-string " " "%20" (alist-get 'name info) (org-attach-dir))))
    (when (file-exists-p new-file)
      (delete-file new-file))
    (org-attach-attach
     (format "http://%s:8089%s" my-supernote-ip-address
             (alist-get 'uri info))
     nil
     'url)
    (setq new-file (my-latest-file (org-attach-dir)))
    ;; recolor
    (my-sketch-recolor-png new-file)
    ;; autocrop that image
    (my-image-autocrop new-file)
    ;; possibly rename
    (setq renamed (my-image-recognize-get-new-filename new-file))
    (when renamed
      (setq renamed (expand-file-name renamed (org-attach-dir)))
      (rename-file new-file renamed t)
      (my-image-store renamed) ; file it in my archive
      (setq new-file renamed))
    ;; use a sketch link if it has an ID
    (if (string-match "^[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]-[0-9][0-9]-[0-9][0-9]-[0-9][0-9] "
                      (file-name-base renamed))
        (org-insert-link nil (concat "sketchFull:" (file-name-base renamed)))
      ;; insert the link
      (org-insert-link nil (concat "attachment:" (replace-regexp-in-string "#" "%23" (file-name-nondirectory new-file)))))
    (org-redisplay-inline-images)))
This is part of my Emacs configuration.
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Archiving public toots on my blog

| mastodon, emacs, org

I want to compile my global microblog posts into weekly posts so that they're archived on my blog. It might make sense to make them list items so that I can move them around easily.

my-mastodon-insert-my-statuses-since
(defun my-mastodon-insert-my-statuses-since (date)
  (interactive (list (org-read-date "Since date: ")))
  (insert
   (format "#+begin_toot_archive\n%s\n#+end_toot_archive\n"
           (mapconcat
            (lambda (o)
              (format "- %s\n  #+begin_quote\n  #+begin_export html\n%s\n  #+end_export\n  #+end_quote\n\n"
                      (org-link-make-string (assoc-default 'url o) (assoc-default 'created_at o))
                      (org-ascii--indent-string (assoc-default 'content o) 2))
              ;; (format "#+begin_quote\n#+begin_export html\n%s\n#+end_export\n#+end_quote\n\n%s\n\n"
              ;;        (assoc-default 'content o)
              ;;        (org-link-make-string (assoc-default 'url o) (assoc-default 'created_at o)))
              )
            (seq-filter
             (lambda (o)
               (string= (assoc-default 'visibility o) "public"))
             (my-mastodon-fetch-posts-after
              (format "accounts/%s/statuses?count=40&exclude_reblogs=t&exclude_replies=t" (mastodon-auth--get-account-id))
              date))
            ""))))

Here's a little thing I used to convert a two-level list into my collapsible sections:

my-org-convert-list-to-collapsible-details
(defun my-org-convert-list-to-collapsible-details ()
  (interactive)
  (let ((list (org-list-to-lisp t)))
    (mapc (lambda (o)
            (when (stringp (car o))
              (insert
               (format
                "#+begin_my_details %s :open t\n%s#+end_my_details\n"
                (car o)
                (mapconcat
                 (lambda (s)
                   (concat "- " (string-trim (org-ascii--indent-string (car s) 2)) "\n"))
                 (cdr (cadr o)))))))
          (cdr list))))

And here are my toots from the past week, roughly categorized into collapsible sections:

EmacsConf

  • 2024-09-17T21:55:39.065Z CFP, draft schedule

    The #EmacsConf call for proposals (https://emacsconf.org/2024/cfp/) target date is this Friday (Sept 20), so I've started drafting the schedule. Thanks to my SVG schedule visualization code and function for checking availability constraints from last year ( https://sachachua.com/blog/2023/09/emacsconf-backstage-scheduling-with-svgs/), it took only about an hour to sketch this out: https://emacsconf.org/2024/organizers-notebook/#draft-schedule . We can run two tracks simultaneously and I can also slightly reduce the buffer between talks, so there's plenty of space for more #Emacs talks if people want to propose them or nudge people to propose them. =)

  • 2024-09-15T17:07:41.935Z diversity

    I feel complicated feelings about #EmacsConf and diversity. On one hand, yes, I would love to have a mix of speakers that reflects the mix of interesting stories and people I come across in the #Emacs community. (I wouldn't get rid of or discourage anyone; I just want more! :) )

    On the other hand, preparing and giving a presentation is a lot of work, and I have first-hand appreciation of how difficult it can be to find time to think - much less predict a specific time to have a conversation. (I'm only just beginning to be able to have some thinking time that isn't accompanied by the guilt of letting my kiddo binge-watch YouTube videos or the uncertainties of sacrificing my sleep, and I still rarely schedule anything for myself.)

    In addition, there are little risks that other people might not even have on their radar. All it takes is one person developing a parasocial relationship or fixation, or someone getting grumpy about someone's pronouns or personal characteristics or opinions, and then deciding to go and ruin someone's day (or life)... I'd hate to encourage someone to put themselves out there and end up with that happening to them, even if it's not at all their fault or mine.

    So yeah, it's a little hard for me to reach out. I can deal with impostor syndrome making people feel like they might not have much to say (share what you're learning! We're all figuring things out together), but I'm not so sure about the other concerns. While I'd like to think that in the Emacs community we often have a convivial atmosphere, sometimes it gets weird here too.

    I'm not sure what to do here aside from thinking out loud. I wish I could wave a magic wand and solve some structural issues that could make things more equitable, but that's waaay above my paygrade. I can keep working on figuring out how to make use of fragmented time, and maybe that will help other people too. I like working on the captions for EmacsConf; they help me a lot, too. I can experiment with workflows for sharing what I'm learning in a way that doesn't require a lot of focus time, speech fluency (I occasionally stutter and have to redo things), or a powerful computer. (Emacs is totally my nonlinear video editor.) I can make an indirect request for more people to consider proposing a talk for https://emacsconf.org/2024/cfp/ (target date is Sept 20, but I think the other organizers are considering extending it too), even with all the caveats my anxious brain suggests. (I know, I'm terrible at sales. :) ) And really, EmacsConf isn't important in the grand scheme of things, it's just a fun excuse to get together and connect with other people who like this stuff too. :)

    I wonder how this can be better. Thoughts?

Emacs

  • 2024-09-17T15:07:41.153Z consult-omni

    All right, I just got consult-omni and a Google custom search JSON API key set up so that I can call consult-omni-google, type keywords, pick the correct match, and insert it as an Org Mode link (or linkify the current region). I can think of more tweaks (embark-act on the current word or region to linkify it), but this is already pretty neat.

  • 2024-09-16T14:05:06.263Z - user-init-file

    Is there already an interactive #emacs command for opening user-init-file? I think that could be handy for newbies if we could just tell them to use "M-x visit-user-init-file" or even "Select 'Open init file' from the menu", although I suppose by the time we ask them to fiddle with the init file to add stuff to it, it's fine to encourage them to be comfortable with C-h v user-init-file and then maybe even teach them about M-x ffap at that point. Hmm...

  • 2024-09-16T13:51:12.091Z - casual-symbol-overlay

    Trying out casual-symbol-overlay (http://yummymelon.com/devnull/announcing-casual-symbol-overlay.html) by hooking it into embark-act, which I've bound to `C-.`:

    ```emacs-lisp
    (use-package casual-symbol-overlay
    :if my-laptop-p
    :init
    (with-eval-after-load 'embark
    (keymap-set embark-symbol-map "z" #'casual-symbol-overlay-tmenu)))
    ```

  • 2024-09-11T17:12:03.791Z no nested lists for Org Babel

    TIL that #OrgMode Babel only takes the top level of nested lists passed in via :var (https://orgmode.org/manual/Environment-of-a-Code-Block.html - Note that only the top-level list items are passed along. Nested list items are ignored.) When I try the manual example on my computer, I do indeed get only the top-level list items, unlike the nested data from https://mail.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-orgmode/2020-10/msg00536.html . Of course, now that makes me want nested lists for both input and output...

Mastodon
Moving to P52

  • 2024-09-18T00:03:09.981Z WhisperX

    Now that I have word-level timestamps from WhisperX (https://sachachua.com/blog/2024/09/using-whisperx-to-get-word-level-timestamps-for-audio-editing-with-emacs-and-subed-record/), I think I'll be able to write an elisp equivalent of the merging/splitting strategies of https://github.com/jianfch/stable-ts?tab=readme-ov-file#regrouping-words to merge subtitles considering gap, duration, length, and maximum number of words.

  • 2024-09-15T17:08:17.757Z upgrade

    (reposting, forgot to make it public)

    I installed a 2TB Crucial T500 NVMe into my Lenovo P52 so that I can try dual-booting into Linux, since it was hard to figure out how I could get all my usual conveniences in WSL.

    A preliminary test with a fresh Kubuntu install showed that my 11ty static blog generation takes about the same time as it does on the X230T, which is a little surprising considering the newer processor and the faster SSD, but maybe I'll have to look for speed gains elsewhere there. I think whisper.cpp is a lot more usable on this computer though, so I'm looking forward to taking advantage of that. The P52 might also make video editing possible, and it might support more modern monitors. It is a fair bit larger and heavier, though. I might end up still using both.

    Anyway, I decided to redo the install by cloning my previous SSD. I want to see if I can skip the step of setting all those things up (although I'll need to redo the Syncthing config, of course). I don't have the extra parts that would let me install the 2.5" SSD from my X230T directly into the P52, but W- has a drive dock that works off USB 2.0. Slow and steady, but that's fine, I can run things overnight. I woke up today to find out that dd doesn't handle extended partitions and needs me to dd them one by one. That's cool, I'll just have that running in the background today.

    If the clone doesn't work or if it's too much trouble to take the clone and give it its own identity, I'll probably wipe it and do another install. Since the X230T is on Kubuntu, I think I'll keep it on Kubuntu as well, to minimize the things I need to keep in my head as I switch between computers. My home directory is in a separate partition, so I can keep it if I want to try something different.

    Now I just have to wait a few hours for these dd commands...

  • 2024-09-11T14:14:55.602Z static blog

    My "plugins is not iterable" issue got fixed when I downgraded `@11ty/eleventy` from `@beta` to `@2.0.1`. Yay, that's one thing off my list!

Other tech stuff
Parenting

  • 2024-09-17T12:28:29.082Z emotion check-in

    I appreciate my kiddo's grade 3 teacher. =) She's currently doing the morning check-in of emotions (how's everyone feeling) using 9 images of Grogu with different facial expressions, which gets the kids (1) laughing, (2) interpreting facial expressions that aren't explicitly labeled, and (3) figuring out what they're feeling.

  • 2024-09-12T12:50:02.014Z pull system

    The kiddo is 8 and I'm developing a better understanding of what "fiercely independent" means. One of the things I'm working on learning is how to shut up and trust the process. =) I've started thinking of it like the pull system of Lean manufacturing principles. Things work out better when I wait for her to ask a question (to pull from me) because at that point, she's ready to hear the answer.

As it turns out, org-list-to-org uses the Org export mechanism, so it quietly discards things like #+begin_export html blocks. I decided to hard-code assumptions about the list's structure instead, which works for now.

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Yay Emacs: Using elisp: links in Org Mode to note the time and display messages on stream

| yay-emacs, org

I like adding chapters to my videos so that people can jump to sections. I can figure out the sections by reading the transcript, adding NOTE comments, and extracting the times for those with my-youtube-copy-chapters. It could be nice to capture the times on the fly. org-timer could let me insert relative timestamps, but I think it might need some tweaking to synchronize that with when the stream starts according to YouTube. I've set up a capture, too, so I can take notes with timestamps.

It turns out that I don't have a lot of mental bandwidth when I'm on stream, so it's hard to remember keyboard shortcuts. (Maybe if I practise using the hydra I set up…) Fortunately, Org Mode's elisp: link type makes it easy to set up executable shortcuts. For example, I can add links like [[elisp:my-stream-message-link][TODO]] to my livestream plans like this:

2024-01-20-elisp-links.svg
Figure 1: Shortcuts with elisp: links

I can then click on the links or use C-c C-o (org-open-link-at-point) to run the function. When I follow the TODO link in the first item, Emacs displays a clock and a message based on the rest of the line after the link.

2024-01-20-message.svg
Figure 2: Displaying a clock and a message

In the background, the code also sets the description of the link to the wall-clock time.

2024-01-20-time.svg
Figure 3: Link description updated with the time

If I start the livestream with a clock displayed on screen, I can use that to translate wall-clock times to relative time offsets. I'll probably figure out some Elisp to translate the times automatically at some point, maybe based on something like org-timer-change-times-in-region.

I figured it might be fun to add a QR code automatically if we detect a URL, taking advantage of that qrencode package I started playing around with.

2024-01-20-qr.svg
Figure 4: With a QR code

You can also use elisp: links for more complicated Emacs Lisp functions, like this: elisp:(progn ... ...).

Here's the code that makes it happen. It's based on emacsconf-stream.el. 

(defvar my-stream-message-buffer "*Yay Emacs*")
(defvar my-stream-message-timer nil)

(defun my-stream-message-link ()
  (interactive)
  (save-excursion
    (when (and (derived-mode-p 'org-mode)
               (eq (org-element-type (org-element-context)) 'link))
      (my-stream-update-todo-description-with-time)
      (goto-char (org-element-end (org-element-context)))
      (my-stream-message (org-export-string-as (buffer-substring (point) (line-end-position)) 'ascii t)))))
(defun my-stream-update-todo-description-with-time ()
  (when (and (derived-mode-p 'org-mode)
             (eq (org-element-type (org-element-context)) 'link))
    (my-org-update-link-description (format-time-string "%-I:%M:%S %p"))))

(defun my-stream-message (&optional message)
  (interactive "MMessage: ")
  ;; update the description of the link at point to be the current time, if any
  (switch-to-buffer (get-buffer-create my-stream-message-buffer))
  (erase-buffer)
  (delete-other-windows)
  (when (string= message "") (setq message nil))
  (face-remap-add-relative 'default :height 200)
  (insert
   "Yay Emacs! - Sacha Chua (sacha@sachachua.com)\n"
   (propertize
    "date"
    'stream-time (lambda () (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z (%z)")))
   "\n\n"
   message)
  ;; has a URL? Let's QR encode it!
  (when-let ((url (save-excursion
                    (when (re-search-backward ffap-url-regexp nil t)
                      (thing-at-point-url-at-point)))))
    (insert (propertize (qrencode url) 'face '(:height 50)) "\n"))
  (insert  "\nYayEmacs.com\n")
  (when (timerp my-stream-message-timer) (cancel-timer my-stream-message-timer))
  (my-stream-update-time)
  (setq my-stream-message-timer (run-at-time t 1 #'my-stream-update-time))
  (goto-char (point-min)))

(defun my-stream-update-time ()
  "Update the displayed time."
  (if (get-buffer my-stream-message-buffer)
      (when (get-buffer-window my-stream-message-buffer)
        (with-current-buffer my-stream-message-buffer
          (save-excursion
            (goto-char (point-min))
            (let (match)
              (while (setq match (text-property-search-forward 'stream-time))
                (goto-char (prop-match-beginning match))
                (add-text-properties
                 (prop-match-beginning match)
                 (prop-match-end match)
                 (list 'display
                       (funcall (get-text-property
                                 (prop-match-beginning match)
                                 'stream-time))))
                (goto-char (prop-match-end match)))))))
    (when (timerp my-stream-message-timer)
      (cancel-timer my-stream-message-timer))))

Let's see if that makes it easy enough for me to remember to actually do it!

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Running the current Org Mode Babel Javascript block from Emacs using Spookfox

| emacs, org, spookfox

I often want to send Javascript from Emacs to the web browser. It's handy for testing code snippets or working with data on pages that require Javascript or authentication. I could start Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox with their remote debugging protocols, copy the websocket URLs, and talk to the browser through something like Puppeteer, but it's so much easier to use the Spookfox extension for Mozilla to execute code in the active tab. spookfox-js-injection-eval-in-active-tab lets you evaluate Javascript and get the results back in Emacs Lisp.

I wanted to be able to execute code even more easily. This code lets me add a :spookfox t parameter to Org Babel Javascript blocks so that I can run the block in my Firefox active tab. For example, if I have (spookfox-init) set up, Spookfox connected, and https://planet.emacslife.com in my active tab, I can use it with the following code: 

#+begin_src js :eval never-export :spookfox t :exports results
[...document.querySelectorAll('.post > h2')].slice(0,5).map((o) => '- ' + o.textContent.trim().replace(/[ \n]+/g, ' ') + '\n').join('')
#+end_src
  • Mario Jason Braganza: Updated to Emacs 29.2
  • Irreal: Zamansky: Learning Elisp #16
  • Tim Heaney: Lisp syntax
  • Erik L. Arneson: Many Posts of Interest for January 2024
  • William Denton: Basic citations in Org (Part 4)

Evaluating a Javascript block with :spookfox t

To do this, we wrap some advice around the org-babel-execute:js function that's called by org-babel-execute-src-block. 

(defun my-org-babel-execute:js-spookfox (old-fn body params)
  "Maybe execute Spookfox."
  (if (assq :spookfox params)
      (spookfox-js-injection-eval-in-active-tab
       body t)
    (funcall old-fn body params)))
(with-eval-after-load 'ob-js
  (advice-add 'org-babel-execute:js :around #'my-org-babel-execute:js-spookfox))

I can also run the block in Spookfox without adding the parameter if I make an interactive function: 

(defun my-spookfox-eval-org-block ()
  (interactive)
  (let ((block (org-element-context)))
    (when (and (eq (org-element-type block) 'src-block)
               (string= (org-element-property :language block) "js"))
      (spookfox-js-injection-eval-in-active-tab
       (nth 2 (org-src--contents-area block))
       t))))

I can add that as an Embark context action: 

(with-eval-after-load 'embark-org
  (define-key embark-org-src-block-map "f" #'my-spookfox-eval-org-block))

In Javascript buffers, I want the ability to send the current line, region, or buffer too, just like nodejs-repl does. 

(defun my-spookfox-send-region (start end)
  (interactive "r")
  (spookfox-js-injection-eval-in-active-tab (buffer-substring start end) t))

(defun my-spookfox-send-buffer ()
  (interactive)
  (my-spookfox-send-region (point-min) (point-max)))

(defun my-spookfox-send-line ()
  (interactive)
  (my-spookfox-send-region (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)))

(defun my-spookfox-send-last-expression ()
  (interactive)
  (my-spookfox-send-region (save-excursion (nodejs-repl--beginning-of-expression)) (point)))

(defvar-keymap my-js-spookfox-minor-mode-map
  :doc "Send parts of the buffer to Spookfox."
  "C-x C-e" 'my-spookfox-send-last-expression
  "C-c C-j" 'my-spookfox-send-line
  "C-c C-r" 'my-spookfox-send-region
  "C-c C-c" 'my-spookfox-send-buffer)

(define-minor-mode my-js-spookfox-minor-mode "Send code to Spookfox.")

I usually edit Javascript files with js2-mode, so I can use my-js-spookfox-minor-mode in addition to that.

I can turn the minor mode on automatically for :spookfox t source blocks. There's no org-babel-edit-prep:js yet, I think, so we need to define it instead of advising it. 

(defun org-babel-edit-prep:js (info)
  (when (assq :spookfox (nth 2 info))
    (my-js-spookfox-minor-mode 1)))

Let's try it out by sending the last line repeatedly:

Sending the current line

I used to do this kind of interaction with Skewer, which also has some extra stuff for evaluating CSS and HTML. Skewer hasn't been updated in a while, but maybe I should also check that out again to see if I can get it working.

Anyway, now it's just a little bit easier to tinker with Javascript!

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This is part of my Emacs configuration.
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Org Mode custom link: copy to clipboard

| emacs, org

I have a tiny corporation for my consulting. I do all of my own paperwork. I have lots of notes in Org Mode for infrequent tasks like the tax-related paperwork I do once a year. My notes include checklists, links, and Org Babel blocks for calculations. I often need to copy standard text (ex: the name of the company) or parts of the output of my Org Babel blocks (ex: tax collected) so that I can fill in web forms on the Canada Revenue Agency website.

This little snippet makes it easy to copy text for pasting. It defines a custom Org link that starts with copy:. When I follow the link by clicking on it or using C-c C-o (org-open-at-point), it copies the text to the kill ring (which is what Emacs calls the clipboard) so that I can paste it anywhere. For example, [[copy:Hello world]] becomes a link to copy "Hello world". Copying means never having to worry about typos or accidentally selecting only part of the text. 

(use-package org
  :config
  (org-link-set-parameters
   "copy"
   :follow (lambda (link) (kill-new link))
   :export (lambda (_ desc &rest _) desc)))

I can use these links as part of my checklist so that I can quickly fill in things like my business name and other details. I can put sensitive information like my social insurance number in a GPG-encrypted file. (Just set up your GPG keys and end a filename with .gpg, and Emacs will take care of transparently encrypting and decrypting the file.)

I can also export those links as part of my Org Babel output. For example, the following code calculates the numbers I need to fill in a T5 form for the other-than-eligible dividends that I issue myself according to the T5 instructions from the CRA. 

(let* ((box-10 1234) ; fake number for demo
       (box-11 (* 1.15 box-10))
       (box-12 (* 0.090301 box-11)))
  `((box-10 ,(format "[[copy:%.2f][%.2f]]" box-10 box-10))
    (box-11 ,(format "[[copy:%.2f][%.2f]]" box-11 box-11))
    (box-12 ,(format "[[copy:%.2f][%.2f]]" box-12 box-12))))
box-10 1234.00
box-11 1419.10
box-12 128.15

On my computer, the numbers become links that I can click and copy. Another little shortcut thanks to Emacs and Org Mode!

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View or add comments (Disqus), or e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com