Apply template to an existing file

[avados]

Hi, i am migrating form obsidian to foam, and i feature i am missing is to be able to change a file using a template.

Examples: i am taking quick notes and i would like to apply a "meeting template" format later on.

basically it would be adding the template at the top of the file, so we don't have to create a new file from template and copy paste everything in it.

Thanks.

[riccardoferretti]

I like the idea, and we could even use Foam mechanics to implement it in the following way:

1. We could add a Apply template to current note
2. The existing text of the note is populated as the ${FOAM_SELECTED_TEXT} property.
   In most templates, which don't use this property, the default behavior is to append its contents at the end of the template (mimicking what Obsidian does). But additionally one could have control over the location of the existing text by using a template that uses the variable explicitly.

[riccardoferretti]

(cc @movermeyer as he is our template expert)

[avados]

Thanks @riccardoferretti you got the idea :)

[movermeyer]

I like the idea.

---

@riccardoferretti If you use ${FOAM_SELECTED_TEXT}, you end up with a collision if the user had already selecting some text. So I'm not sure that we'd want to use the same variable. We could create a new one for this? #{FOAM_FILE_CONTENTS} or something.

Then yeah, implicitly append #{FOAM_FILE_CONTENTS} to the end of any template that doesn't explicitly mention it.

[riccardoferretti]

My mental model for Foam: Apply template to current note is basically "select the whole note, and apply the template to it", so in my mind I see quite literally the file content as being the selected text.

I am trying to map the scenarios where having both variables might be helpful, but I am finding it hard to think of one (except for serious hardcore-master-of-vim-like scenario).
That's why my 80/20/KISS approach (and the mental model above) makes favor using the FOAM_SELECTED_TEXT variable.

But I might be missing something, happy to hear other POVs.

[movermeyer]

@riccardoferretti That's very reasonable.

I agree that ideally we wouldn't bother with creating a new variable for this, and I agree that the use case for using both is a "serious hardcore-master-of-vim" use case that's not really worth worrying about / supporting.

That said, I mentioned it since its a bit of an abuse of the definition of FOAM_SELECTED_TEXT, so I was wondering if there was a reasonable way we could avoid this slight corruption.

Perhaps the command could literally select all text in the editor before creating the new note, so the user gets a very brief visual cue as to what happened.

[riccardoferretti]

Perhaps the command could literally select all text in the editor before creating the new note, so the user gets a very brief visual cue as to what happened.

I take from this that my mental model might not be clear to a user, fair point 😅

The approach of the brief selection for visual cue to the user could be interesting, definitely worth exploring.
We would also integrate the documentation (and possibly the text used in Foam: Create New Template) to make the user aware of the behavior.

[avados]

What is happening to the text not selected?
For example, how would you handle the case:
I have a bunch of text selected in a middle of a paragraph and i apply the template, what happens to the non selected text? does it stays where it is and the template is added in place of the selected text?