Rapid-Fire Insertion of Tags from the OS X Services Menu into Documents Generated by Applications Written in Cocoa

[TB]

Is there a utilty out there that can do this? If not, want to code it?

I was tinkering with Notational Velocity today and noticed that
sometimes a relevant, but half-assed, brainstormy note would fail to
come up in the incremental search because I entered the idea without
taking pains to include a keyword that I would most likely use for
search query. Hence tags.

Next I got the idea that tags would be useful for cross-referencing the
stuff I keep in hierarchical folders in Hog Bay Notebook.

What I envision is a services menu utility that will enter, by
autocompletion or expansion of an abbreviation, a tag from a predefined
index of tags. If a new tag is needed, I would like it added to the
index with the first usage.

Thanks,

TB

[Scott Palmer]

TB -
Interesting idea. I don't know of anything out there, but we can
certainly start to spec one out...

So, would these tags then be linked to the file or to a selection in
the file? If I have a full Notebook (I use Circus Ponies' product) of
information and I want to tag just a page in the notebook, would I be
able to?

Just to clarify, you're thinking Spotlight with keyword tagging,
correct?
- Scott

[Benjaloo]

I've been toying with this; you could use something like iPaste or
CopyPaste, or TypeIt4Me--not services, but easily accessible
anyplace-so far iPaste is the winner for me.

in terms of tags, I've been experimenting with tagging files in the Get
Info Comments and using File Buddy to search; obviously with Spotlight
you could put the tags directly into the file, though having a metadata
space for them would be helpful so that the file itself can stay as
content only.

[Jeffrey Windsor]

Just thinking out loud (OK, in bits), but why not use a couple of text
clippings in your Quicksilver shelf? Always accessible in just a
couple of strokes: just have a few semi-all-purpose chunks which you
could delete the unnecessary ones in the file itself.

Would this meet your needs? I haven't run into the problem because I
try to clear out NV brainstormy stuff every day as part of my inbox to
some more permanent storage (DEVONthink, in my case, but I imagine
that Notebook would be the same), and so I have the chance to think
more deeply about keywords in a fairly short timeframe.

--jw

[TB]

I'm not so interested in tagging entire files, as in adding one or more
tags to discrete notes and snippets kept in HBN and NV.

Examples:

1) tag the NV note "sharpen lawn mower blades" with [tool maintenance]

2) be able to search for a project tag (here, [taxes]), to gather all
its action steps that I've placed in different context folders in HBN.

@ errands: photocopy returns [taxes]
@ organization: organize receipts [taxes]
@ waiting for: W-2s from.. [taxes]

I'll give iPaste a try. But since I'm still running Jaguar until Tiger
comes out, I'll have to envy the Quicksilver crowd for a little while
longer.

I appreciate all your suggestions.

TB