[tw5] is it possible to configure "Bob" to store tiddler files in the same directory as the wikifolder?

116 views
Skip to first unread message

ch

unread,
Oct 4, 2018, 12:50:45 PM10/4/18
to tiddl...@googlegroups.com
hi,

i would like to thank "Bob" - i really like him! ;-)


this is follow-up question to my previous post, i.e.

"[tw5] is it possible to configure TiddlyWiki on Node.js to store tiddler files in the same directory as the wikifolder?"

i guess this is something that needs to be fixed in the TiddlyWiki core - but is there a quick fix that can accomplish "Bob" to support this feature?

(here wikifolder, should be the same directory as where the "Bob" executable binary is stored - and the settings.json file as well - or another direcory which you can configure in the settings.json file - i hope this explanation is clear enough...)


kind regards,

ch

Jed Carty

unread,
Oct 4, 2018, 1:10:39 PM10/4/18
to TiddlyWiki
There aren't any exposed settings for changing the location where tiddlers are saved, it may be possible but it would take some changes. Saving the tiddlers in the same folder as other things will probably lead to strange behaviour.

I am not sure how the file system monitor part will interact with having things like the tiddlywiki.info file and the executable in the same folder as the tiddlers. Also it wouldn't support multiple wikis and may have strange things with the settings.

Is there a specific reason you need everything in the same folder?

ch

unread,
Oct 4, 2018, 4:37:53 PM10/4/18
to tiddl...@googlegroups.com
i guess the true tw5 wiz could clearify if it's possible to change the location where tiddlers are saved, i know too little about how TiddlyWiki boot-up to change it myself (maybe it's not that hard since it should be possible to search for "tiddlers" in the source code...?)

it is in fact possible to startup TiddlyWiki on Node.js using:

$ tiddlywiki . --server

i.e. the wikifolder is the current directory (the "working" directory), and everything works fine - though, tiddlers are still stored in the sub-directory "tiddlers" of the current directory. so, having the tiddlywiki.info file and the executable in the same folder as the tiddlers would not make any harm at all - "it should work..." - and multiple wikis would not be any problem either since "Bob" create all "other" wikis in the sub-directory "Wikis" with it's own directory - a wikifolder for each and every wiki - with its own tiddlywiki.info file as well.

well, i don't want everything to be in the same folder since i want to utilize customising tiddler file naming - however, i don't want the "source files" (i.e. the "tiddlers") which *is* the wiki to be stored in a directory that is hard-coded(!) by the programmer - it should be up to the TiddlyWiki user to name the directory where all tiddlers are stored - i'm not that comfortable having multiple wikis stored together with a common parent directory, i usually want to spread my wikis on different devices, or in different directories on the same device which doesn't share the same nearest parent directory - the use cases for multiple wikis like "Bob" is designed are small, i think.

the main reason to be able to control what the "tiddlers" directory shall be named (well, for me the default directory should be the current directory - i.e. "./", if not configured by the TiddlyWiki user in the settings.json file) you can run a single instance of your wiki running as a CMS (Content Management System) which can be utilized in different ways, like a doxygen tool, like a source code review tool, like a "Jira" board for agile project planning, like a ticket system, like a bugzilla tool to keep track of the bugs in the source code, etc. i.e. every software development "project" could then utilize this CMS in different ways - but the same source of information will be stored in a hierarchy - and wanted data is easy to lookup with the built-in search tool in TiddlyWiki.

well, maybe you say: - this is already possible! ...if you put every "data" file and directories in the "tiddlers" directory - but still, i want to be in control where my "tiddlers" shall be stored - this is not something that should be hard-coded(!) by the programmer of TiddlyWiki... that's my opinion anyway.

however, we also need customising tiddler file naming to work before "Bob" could be dubbed the *ultimate* tool for TiddlyWiki :-)

cheers!

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tiddlywiki+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tiddl...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/tiddlywiki.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tiddlywiki/cda3cada-ff6a-4911-84b0-b7bd34e99bb0%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Jed Carty

unread,
Oct 4, 2018, 5:31:25 PM10/4/18
to TiddlyWiki
Well, I may not be a true tw5 wiz, I am the main dev on Bob. Bob creates wikis in a consistent place because it makes probability easier and I haven't come up with a simple UI for changing the location that didn't confuse people. But you can put the wikis wherever you want them to be.

You set the locations of existing wiki folders in the manual settings tab or by editing the settings.json file in the settings sub-folder of the root wiki. So far I haven't run into a time when there has been a problem having a defined folder structure for wikis.

The folder struture Bob uses is like this:

Main Folder
  tiddlers folder
  settings folder

so the settings and tiddlywiki.info file have to be somewhere, and like I said the file system monitor (the part that makes changes that happen on the file system get pushed to the browser) interacts with every file is the folder and could cause undesired behaviour.

If you just want wikis in different places that Bob supports that out of the box, just manually set the locations of existing wiki folders. If you want something else than we can add it to the list.

Jed Carty

unread,
Oct 4, 2018, 5:32:53 PM10/4/18
to TiddlyWiki
And it is very possible to change the name of the folder where tiddlers are stored inside the wiki folder, it just takes some changes to the code. But to my knowledge no one has had a case where that would be important, they just want to be able to place the wiki folders, not separate the different components of the wiki.

@TiddlyTweeter

unread,
Oct 5, 2018, 6:06:44 AM10/5/18
to tiddl...@googlegroups.com
Ciao ch

I understand the issue. But actually Bob will let you store a wiki anywhere. Pathing can also be relative. That combination is about as good as it gets.

Yes, you have to override the default behaviour manually in the settings to do that. But I think that is understandable. Otherwise it could get confusing if you just want to "click and make".

.\Wikis as default looks fine to me.

BTW, you can create as many sub-groupings of wikis to any depth you want through the manual settings.

Best wishes
Josiah

ch

unread,
Oct 8, 2018, 7:43:59 AM10/8/18
to tiddl...@googlegroups.com
hi jed,

for the record: when i wrote "true tw5 wiz", i meant the creator of tiddlywiki five - i didn't mean to "minimize" your work done on "Bob" - on the contrary, i'm very impressed with your work... then i also saw that you support several platforms as well - very(!) impressing, indeed - thanks!

cheers! /ch

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tiddlywiki+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tiddl...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/tiddlywiki.

ch

unread,
Oct 8, 2018, 7:58:10 AM10/8/18
to tiddl...@googlegroups.com
i've found out in the other thread "[tw5] is it possible to configure TiddlyWiki on Node.js to store tiddler files in the same directory as the wikifolder?" that there in fact exist a configuration option "default-tiddler-location" in the "tiddlywiki.info" file - but sadly, that option is broken (it doesn't work, see the other thread).

- if someone could make a "patch" to get the "default-tiddler-location" option working, and patch "Bob" with that "patch"... hmm, maybe that's why customising tiddler file naming doesn't work with "Bob"...? and, if i could just get the "IndexWiki" directory in "Bob" to be the current directory instead (i.e. where the "Bob" executable is stored) and the "settings.json" file stored on the same directory level as the "tiddlywiki.info" file (well, that would be the same directory where the "Bob" executable is stored, as well)... that would make me happy! :-)

cheers!

Den tors 4 okt. 2018 kl 23:32 skrev Jed Carty <inmy...@gmail.com>:
And it is very possible to change the name of the folder where tiddlers are stored inside the wiki folder, it just takes some changes to the code. But to my knowledge no one has had a case where that would be important, they just want to be able to place the wiki folders, not separate the different components of the wiki.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tiddlywiki+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tiddl...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/tiddlywiki.

ch

unread,
Oct 8, 2018, 8:29:39 AM10/8/18
to tiddl...@googlegroups.com
hi josiah,

for the most simple case, i don't care about the additional option that you can run multiple wikis with "Bob" - and for making it even simpler to understand and not hide away the "settings.json" file, and since you are planning to change from JSON to TOML instead... this is my dream setup:

a wiki stored in directory "wiki", will then have the following minimal files:

BobWin32.exe
BobWin32.ini (which today is the "settings.json" file hidden under "IndexWiki/settings" directory)
index.tid (can be any tiddler file, only here for this example - i.e. the first tiddler opened by "Bob" configured in the "DefaultTiddlers.tid" file, see below)
_system/config/FileSystemPaths.tid
_system/DefaultTiddlers.tid (the "text" field contains: "index")
_system/StoryList.tid (as always, contains the tiddlers that was last opened)

the "FileSystemPaths.tid" looks like this:
```
[is[system]removeprefix[$:/]addprefix[_system/]]
[!has[draft.of]]
```

the "_system" directory could be named to anything else (of course).

the "StoryList.tid" file would i like to be erased once "Bob" is closed down (but that should be an option that could be configured... maybe there is already an option in "tiddlywiki.info" that do exactly this...?)

- maybe it could be possible to skip the "BobWin32.ini" file (i.e. today called "settings.json")...? if the "Bob" options could be stored there instead and TiddlyWiki just ignore the "configuration options" it doesn't understand...

cheers!

Den fre 5 okt. 2018 kl 12:06 skrev @TiddlyTweeter <Tiddly...@assays.tv>:
Ciao ch

I understand the issue. But actually Bob will let you store a wiki anywhere. Pathing can also be relative. That combination is about as good as it gets.

Yes, you have to override the default behaviour manually in the settings to do that. But I think that is understandable. Otherwise it would could get confusing if you just want to "click and make".

.\Wikis as default looks fine to me.

BTW, you can create as many sub-groupings of wikis to any depth you want though the manual settings.


Best wishes
Josiah

ch wrote:
well, i don't want everything to be in the same folder since i want to utilize customising tiddler file naming - however, i don't want the "source files" (i.e. the "tiddlers") which *is* the wiki to be stored in a directory that is hard-coded(!) by the programmer - it should be up to the TiddlyWiki user to name the directory where all tiddlers are stored - i'm not that comfortable having multiple wikis stored together with a common parent directory,

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tiddlywiki+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to tiddl...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/tiddlywiki.

@TiddlyTweeter

unread,
Oct 8, 2018, 9:36:45 AM10/8/18
to TiddlyWiki
Ciao ch

ch wrote:
... since you are planning to change from JSON to TOML instead...

This is Jed's possible future for the settings. Its not my decision in any way.

I personally would like TOML because it should become possible to add comments. The current "JSON" is, I believe, a somewhat over-convoluted construction. Yes its a real JSON but I think Jed is jumping through hoops to make it. Not sure.

Josiah

@TiddlyTweeter

unread,
Oct 8, 2018, 10:17:10 AM10/8/18
to tiddl...@googlegroups.com
Ciao ch

Some of this is beyond my competence. I do think that some of what you need is not about Bob per se, rather its about TW on node which Bob is a flexi re-implementation of. Its bones are the same though its flesh is different.

I noticed you wrote elsewhere about similar issues about node TW. I think that is likely the best place you asked.

BUT there is some flex in Bob so, maybe, Bob can approximate your needs. But on this level of detail I can't give an exact reply. Sorry.

ch wrote:
a wiki stored in directory "wiki", will ... have the following minimal files:
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages