Prefill e.g. "has: notes" for "citar-open-notes"

[rudolf-adamkovic]

More often than not, when I run citar-open-notes, I type has:notes. Could this be set as the default input? From what I understand, citar-presets almost does what I want but not really. I would like the default input prefilled for all specialized citar-open functions (except citar-open-entry, obviously). Or perhaps I have a bad idea?

[bdarcus]

In the past, we had that, using basically a hack.

But the hack itself was a problem, and there aren't any great, pain free, alternatives.

So I removed it.

Perhaps in the future we can revisit, depending on how the broader ecosystem of packages evolves.

Do note that you can probably just type :n; it's what I do.

[bdarcus]

The other possibility is we could add a defcustom to pre-filter candidates.

But the downside would be that one would not be able to back out of that and access the full bib list. So it would need to be nil by default.

[rudolf-adamkovic]

[...], using basically a hack.

But the hack itself was a problem, and there aren't any great, pain free, alternatives.

Does this mean that there exists no API to prefill that input field at the bottom of the screen?

[bdarcus]

https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Initial-Input.html

[rudolf-adamkovic]

That makes sense. How about we have a variable that says "show only relevant stuff" for these specialized functions? For example, when I call citar-open-notes, I want to see stuff with notes, because I want to "open notes".

[rudolf-adamkovic]

Maybe I should start using citar-open instead. I remember that you wanted to remove the specialized functions. At this point, what purpose do they serve?

[rudolf-adamkovic]

Done.

(global-set-key (kbd "C-c b") 'citar-open)

In nobody uses the specialized functions (that do not even filter the items), perhaps we should remove them, as you suggested in the past.

[bdarcus]

In nobody uses the specialized functions (that do not even filter the items), perhaps we should remove them, as you suggested in the past.

Do you use embark with citar?

As oantolin has made the point, it's best not to think of this too rigidly, given all these commands are contextually available. All the command does in that context is define the default behavior (e.g. opening a note).

So, for example, you can just choose whatever is your preferred entry point, and use that, and use embark-act to access different actions.

You can also give that command an alias if you prefer, like salutis/cite.

If that strategy, it would likely make sense that it be a command that always needs the full candidate list; like citar-insert-citation.

Really, this UI is designed to work best with Emacs 28 and embark.

How about we have a variable that says "show only relevant stuff" for these specialized functions?

Yes.

[rudolf-adamkovic]

Really, this UI is designed to work best with Emacs 28 and embark.

I tried Embark in the past, but never found myself using it, so I later removed it. Recently, though, I watched a video on Embark by System Crafters, and it made me want to try Embark again. Today, I installed and configured it, at last. So, starting today, I use citar-open (bound to C-c b for "bibliography") and Embark. Thank you for your time and wise guidance!

[bdarcus]

I have a wiki page on embark configuration, that might give some other ideas.

https://github.com/bdarcus/citar/wiki/Embark