# Tagsearch - Search for, and/or summarise, tags in plaintext files.
## Introduction
This finds all instances of `@ALPHANUMERIC` (e.g. roughly matches the regex
`@[a-zA-Z0-9]`) across `.txt` and `.md` recursively under the current directory.
The *purpose* of this script is to basically let me manage information in
plaintext much more easily. I've added a separate file giving [a rough overview
of how I apply it to different usecases][].
[a rough overview of how I apply it to different usecases]: ./use_cases.md
## Motivation
A prime motivation was to move away from more commercial software. Even though I
can afford to use a few subscription services, I feel like it's better to
simplify my processes down. This has multiple benefits:
- saving money; not subscribing to as many services
- no vendor lock-in; don't need to worry about losing my data if a vendor goes
out of business, or changes their pricing model
- less 'failure modes'; with a simple plaintext system, built the way I want
it to, I don't have to worry about all the interactions or working the way
that other software requires me to. Everything is basically human readable,
with a few helper scripts to handle the data in different ways.
- portability; I don't need to worry about finding an app that works across
Windows, OSX, and Linux. I can realistically access my data across any
device that can handle text files. Every device I currently work with has
the ability to search within files, so even without tools such as this, I
can still filter my information down.
The main bit of commercial software I still use is *Dropbox*, so I can get
information across all my devices without having to worry about doing things
like syncing git. I do however have a cronjob which backs up this information to
git. One change this makes to my process is using the file extension `.txt`
instead of `.md` for my markdown files; this simply lets me utilise Dropbox's
full-text search from the web or android app to find information when I don't
have access to a terminal and my own helper scripts.
## Installation
Download the repo
git clone git@github.com:Chrisdavison/tagsearch
Change to the repo directory
cd tagsearch
Build and install
cargo install --path . --force
### Dependencies
regex = "1"
glob = "0.3.0"
lazy_static = "1.4.0"
structopt = "0.3.3"
## Usage
Current usage string:
tagsearch 0.9.0
search for, and/or summarise, tags in plaintext files
USAGE:
tagsearch [FLAGS] [keywords]...
FLAGS:
-h, --help Prints help information
-l, --list List all tags for files matching keywords
--long Long list (e.g. tall) all tags for files matching keywords
-o, --or-filter Filter using ANY, rather than ALL keywords
-u, --untagged Show untagged files
-V, --version Prints version information
ARGS:
<keywords>... Keywords to filter by (prefix with ! for negative-match)
Unimplemented (as of yet), after change to rust:
-n, --numeric When listing, sort by number of tags, and show number
-s, --summarise List tags and matching files
Examples
tagsearch # defaults to -l|--long
tagsearch --long # to show a tall list of tags
tagsearch golang # Show files tagged 'golang'
tagsearch -l golang # List all tags associated with files tagged 'golang'
tagsearch rust '!video' # Show files tagged 'rust', but NOT tagged 'video'
tagsearch --OR spanish espanol # Show files that match spanish OR espanol
Note that you must wrap *not*-filters in quotes, as shells often do something special with `!`