vim-insert-timestamp

vim-insert-timestamp is a vim plugin to easily input datetime timestamps (with previewing) based on natural language processing.

Example

Here is an example of vim-insert-timestamp in action!

Installing

vim-insert-timestamp uses python3 and parsedatetime, so be sure to have them installed:

pip3 install parsedatetime

To support timezone printing as well, also install tzlocal:

pip3 install tzlocal

Then, install vim-insert-timestamp using either pathogen or vundle. For example, for vundle, add the following lines to your ~/.vimrc:

Plugin 'alkim0/vim-insert-timestamp'

Then enable the plugin with the following line in your ~/.vimrc:

call InsertTimestampEnable()

I like to only enable it for vimwiki files, so I use:

autocmd FileType vimwiki call InsertTimestampEnable()

The g:insert_timestamp_start_key variable controls which key combination you want to use to start the timestamp insertion. By default, this is <C-l>.

The g:insert_timestamp_complete_key variable controls which key combination you want to use to complete to the current previewd timestamp. By default, this is <Tab>.

Note for vimwiki, <Tab> is already used to jump from table cell to table cell, so you may need to remap your completion key. I use:

let g:insert_timestamp_complete_key = "'"

If you want to enable also printing out the current timezone with the timestamp, set

let g:insert_timestamp_enable_timezone = 1

Usage

After you have enabled vim-insert-timestamp. Go into insert mode, and press <C-l> (or whatever you configured to). A preview window will pop up, and as you type more details, the previewd timestamp will be refined. To complete to the currently previewed timestamp, press <Tab> (or whatever you configured it to). To get out of insert timestamp mode, either press <C-l> again or <Esc>.

vim-insert-timestamp outputs the timestamp in a format similar to Emacs's org-mode. It can output both individual timestamps and timestamp ranges.