** what is it?
sauron is an emacs mode for keeping track of /events/ happening in the
(emacs) world around you. Events are things like 'appointment in 5 minutes',
'bob pinged you on IRC', 'torrent download is complete' etc. Sauron shows
those events like a list -- basically like a log. You can 'activate' an event
by either pressing =RET= when point is on it, or clicking it with the middle
mouse button (=
When activated, it can execute some arbitrary function -- for example in the case of IRC (ERC), it will switch you to the buffer (channel) it originated from. It's a bit of a generalization of what /tracking mode/ does in ERC (the emacs IRC client), and that is in fact how it started.
There's an increasing number of hooks and tunables in sauron, which allows you to fine-tune the behavior. However, I strive for it to be useful with minimal configuration.
** getting started
After you've put the various sauron files in a directory, you can enable it with something like the following in your =.emacs=:
;; set load path, obviously replace "
(add-to-list 'load-path "
Now, you can start sauron with... =M-x sauron-start=, and stop it with =M-x sauron-stop=.
=sauron-start= will pop-up a new frame (window) which will show events coming from any of its sources (i.e., ERC, org-mode appointments, D-Bus). You can 'activate' a source by pressing "Enter" with the cursor on the event, which will then take some backend-specific action.
For example, for the ERC-backend, it will transfer you to the buffer (IRC-channel) where said event happened. You can clear all events with =M-x sauron-clear= (default keybinding: =c=).
You can toggle between showing and hiding of the Sauron frame or window using =M-x sauron-toggle-hide-show=.
Sauron (by default) loads the =sauron-erc=, =sauron-org= and =sauron-dbus= modules; if you don't have ERC, org-mode or d-bus support, these will simply be ignored. If so desired, you can customize =sauron-modules=. See below for some specifics about the backends.
** customization
I've tried hard to come up with reasonable defaults, such that users can get started with sauron without reading too much documentation or having to write elisp etc.; still, I've also tried to make sauron very configurable - different people have different needs, so it should be possible to coerce the software in whatever direction.
Below are some customization points.
*** sauron look-and-feel
Sauron can be shown either as a separate frame (the default), or embedded in
your current frame. For the latter, set =sauron-separate-frame= to =nil=:
#+begin_src(setq sauron-separate-frame nil)
Note, this latter option (embedded sauron) is *experimental*. Emacs does not
make it easy to do this reliable. Note, you can use: =M-x
sauron-toggle-hide-show= to hide/show the sauron frame or window.
You can customize the columns shown in the sauron buffer by setting
=sauron-column-alist= - see its documentation.
You can remove the mode-line in the sauron-buffer by setting
=sauron-hide-mode-line= to =t=, e.g.:
#+begin_src(setq sauron-hide-mode-line t)
You can make the Sauron window appear on every (virtual) desktop by setting
~sauron-sticky-add~ to t, i.e..
#+begin_src(setq sauron-sticky-frame t)
in your configuration. Depending on your window manager, this may also set
the frame to be /always-on-top/. Obviously, this is only effective if you
use sauron in a separate frame.*** priorities -- =sauron-min-priority=
Each event in sauron has a certain /priority/. Sauron *ignores* all events
which have a priority that is lower that =sauron-min-priority= (default
value: 3).
For example, all messages written on IRC (i.e., coming from the ERC-backend)
which are *not* directed towards you have priority 2 -- you will not see
them. And that is probably a good idea.*** watching patterns -- =sauron-watch-patterns=
You can specify a list of patterns (regular expressions) which sauron should
check. An event matching any of the patterns in the list will have its
priority raised by 1 point. If that one point raises it to
`sauron-min-priority' or higher level, it will now show up in the Sauron
buffer.
=sauron-watch-patterns= is useful if you want to check if, for example, your
name, or your hobby project is mentioned in some IRC channel.
So, for example, as part of your settings:
#+begin_example;; watch for some animals (setq sauron-watch-patterns '("\bgnu\b" "yak" "capybara" "wombat"))
*** watching nicks -- =sauron-watch-nicks=
You can also specify a list of nicks to watch for; nicks are matched using a
string-match (not a regular expression). A nick matching any of the nicks in
the list will have its priority raised by 1 point. If that one point raises
it to `sauron-min-priority' or higher level, it will now show up in the
Sauron buffer.*** don't get swamped by a certain nick
Since you may not want to get too many events from one nick -- and, who
knows, accompanying sound effects, pop-ups and what have you, you can set
some insensitivity time; events from the same nick during this time will be
lowered in priority by one point.
You can set the time period (in seconds) with `sauron-nick-insensitivity',
which defaults to 60 seconds.*** blocking events from showing up -- =sauron-event-block-functions=
We can customize things even more precisely using the
=sauron-event-block-functions= hook function. Any event with a priority >=
=sauron-min-priority= will be passed to the hook function(s); if any of
those functions returns non-nil, the event will be blocked. See the emacs
documentation for a general introduction to hook functions, here's an
example:
#+begin_example(add-hook 'sauron-event-block-functions (lambda (origin prio msg &optional props) (or (string-match "foo" msg) ;; ignore events that match 'foo' ;; other matchers )))
Note that the =props= parameter is a backend specific property-list, which
allows you e.g. (for the ERC-backend) to get the sender of some ERC message,
and block based on that.*** doing stuff based on events -- =sauron-event-added-functions=
After events have been added, another hook is called:
=sauron-event-added-functions=.
This is place to add sound effects, notifications and so on. After all, if
you get an event for e.g. the org-mode backend that you have a meeting to
attend in 5 minutes, simply adding a line in the Sauron-buffer may not be
enough.
Instead, you can define a hook function for this.
For doing very sound effects, pop-ups etc., a few
convenience functions are provided:
- ~sauron-fx-sox~ (play a sound using 'sox')
- ~sauron-fx-aplay~ (play a sound using 'aplay')
- ~sauron-fx-gnome-osd~ (show some letters on your screen)
- ~sauron-fx-zenity~ (pop up a zenity window)
- ~sauron-fx-notify~ (trigger a notification using the D-Bus notification daemon)
(see the doc-strings for the functions for the details about their
parameters).
Now, our hook function could look something like:
#+begin_example(add-hook 'sauron-event-added-functions (lambda (origin prio msg &optional props) (if (string-match "ping" msg) (sauron-fx-sox "/usr/share/sounds/ping.wav") (sauron-fx-sox "/usr/share/sounds/something-happened.wav")) (when (>= prio 4) (sauron-fx-sox "/usr/share/sounds/uhoh.wav") (sauron-fx-gnome-osd msg 10))))
*** Seeing /all/ events
Sometimes, you may want to see /all/ events instead of filtering them, for
example for debugging purposes. For this, there is the variable
=sauron-log-events=. If you set it to =t=, /all/ events will be shown in a
buffer names =*Sauron Log*=. This buffer shows up to
=sauron-log-buffer-max-lines= (default: 1000) lines of the last events.** connecting to alert.el
John Wiegley's [[https://github.com/jwiegley/alert][alert.el]] has a bit of overlap with sauron; however, I've added some wrapper function to make it trivial to feed sauron events into alert. Simply adding:
(add-hook 'sauron-event-added-functions 'sauron-alert-el-adapter)
in your setup should do the trick (of course, =alert.el= must be loaded).
** the backend modules
Currently, 8 backend modules have been implemented:
elfeed - for =elfeed=, an emacs Atom/RSS feed reader
By default, =sauron= tries to load all of them; this should work, even if you don't have some of these packages (they simply won't be activated).
If you do not want to load some module, see the variable =sauron-modules=.
*** erc
The ERC module check all IRC PRIVMSG messages, and JOIN/LEAVE/QUIT
messages. PRIVMSG includes the messages sent to any channel by anyone. These
message are given (by default) priority 2, so (by default) they do not show
up in your sauron buffer.
However, messages that match one of your =sauron-watch-patterns= or
=sauron-watch-nicks= are getting a higher priority, or messages that are
private messages directed at you. However, after sending a message, you
won't get notified from the same nick for another 60 seconds (by default --
see =sauron-nick-insensitivity=), so you won't get e.g. sound effects for
each message in a private conversation.*** org-mode / appt
For org-mode, sauron adds functionality to =appt-disp-window-function= (but
leaves it intact), so that whenever some event is near, you get a
notification with the following priorities:
- 15 minutes left: priority 3
- 10 minutes left: priority 3
- 5 minutes left: priority 4
- 2 minutes left: priority 5
For all other minutes, you'll get events with priority 2.
Note that you can influence the number of warnings and the time they start
by setting the variables =appt-display-interval= and
=appt-message-warning-time=, as documented in emacs manual.
You should load org /before/ starting sauron, in particular before you set
~appt-disp-window-function~, as sauron-org uses that same function (it will
preserve the existing functionality though).*** d-bus
The dbus backend allows you to get events from outside emacs; it listens for
two messages, =AddUrlEvent= and =AddMsgEvent=. You can call them like this:
#+begin_src sh
dbus-send --session --dest="org.gnu.Emacs" \
--type=method_call \
"/org/gnu/Emacs/Sauron" \
"org.gnu.Emacs.Sauron.AddUrlEvent" \
string:shell uint32:3 string:"Link: Emacs-Fu" \
string:"http://emacs-fu.blogspot.com"
#+end_src
The four parameters are resp. the originator ('shell'), the priority ('3' in the
example), a description and a URL. This will show up in the sauron buffer (if
the priority is high enough), and if you activate the event (press RET), your
browser will visit the link.
#+begin_src sh
dbus-send --session \
--dest="org.gnu.Emacs" \
--type=method_call \
"/org/gnu/Emacs/Sauron" \
"org.gnu.Emacs.Sauron.AddMsgEvent" \
string:shell uint32:3 string:"Hello, world!"
#+end_src
The three parameters are resp. the sender ('shell'), the priority ('3' in the
example), and message. This will show up in the sauron buffer (if the priority
is high enough).
As an example, you can get a notification when torrent has been completed in
'Transmission'. In the torrent-completion script (see Preferences/
Call-script-when-torrent-is-completed), add something like:
#+begin_src sh
dbus-send --session \
--dest="org.gnu.Emacs" \
--type=method_call \
"/org/gnu/Emacs/Sauron" \
"org.gnu.Emacs.Sauron.AddMsgEvent" \
string:Transmission uint32:3 string:"Torrent completed: $TR_TORRENT_NAME"
#+end_src
You also need to enable the web client support in Transmission - it's in the
'Web' tab of the preferences dialog.
Note, if you start transmission before you start your session, see `Using D-Bus
outside your session'.**** Using D-Bus outside your session
Note, you normally only use D-Bus (i.e.., the d-bus session bus) when you are in
the same /session/ -- say, your desktop environment. Thus, it is generally /not/
possible to send yourself D-Bus messages from programs outside your session, for
example something running from ~crontab~.
For this, if you set =sauron-dbus-cookie= to non-nil (before starting sauron),
it will drop a file =~/.sauron-dbus= which contains the D-Bus session bus
address (=DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=). Using this address you can, in fact, send
messages to sauron from outside your session, by doing something like in the
previous examples, but first setting =DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=:
#+begin_src shDBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS="cat ~/.sauron-dbus" dbus-send ....
We don't write =~/.sauron-dbus= as there may be security downsides to this -
even though normally other users are not allowed to send to 'your' session bus,
even with the cookie, it's always good to be a bit paranoid.*** notifications
sauron-notifications tracks notifications sent using `notifications-notify',
which was added in emacs 24. You can use
`sauron-notifications-urgency-to-priority-plist' for the mapping of the
'urgency' field of notification to the sauron's priority field.
Note, one should be careful when calling `notifications-notify' from
functions listed in the `sauron-event-added-functions' hook, as to not
create some infinite recursion.*** identi.ca
=sauron-identica= shows the number of new dents found by =identica-mode= whenever
there is at least one new dent.*** twittering
=sauron-twittering= shows the number of new tweets found by
=twittering-mode= whenever there is at least one new tweet.
If =twittering-username= is set, it will also show @-mentions when new
tweets arrive.*** jabber
=sauron-jabber= shows events from =jabber.el=, this includes new messages, info
messages, presence alerts and lost connections.
The info, presence and connection events get priority 2, so by default you won't
get to see these. The others get priority 3, so those /should/ be visible by
default.*** elfeed =sauron-elfeed= show events from elfeed.el, this include new entries in each feed.
By default, all events get priority 2 therefore you won't get to see these. However, it is possible
to configure the priority using the following instruction
#+begin_src emacs-lisp(puthash url priority sauron-elfeed-prio-hash)
** adding new modules
It may be interesting to track other modules as well; this shouldn't be too hard. Suppose we have a module 'foo':
now, add ~sauron-foo~ to your ~sauron-modules~
Now, to actually make your module useful, you'd want to add some event is something happens. This is done using =sauron-add-event= (see it's documentation).
** Using =sauron= in other elisp
If you want to create simple sauron-events from other elisp code, writing a backend modules might be unnecessary; you can simply call the =sauron-add-event= function directly. See its docstring for the details. Example:
(sauron-add-event 'kitchen ;; origin 3 ;; priority "Coffee is ready!" '(lambda () ;; function called when activated (message "Coffee's ready, get it while it's hot!")) '(:temperature 80)) ;; arbitrary props passed to ;; hook functions
A typical pattern may also be to switch to the buffer of origin when the event is activated. The =sauron-switch-to-marker-or-buffer= function may be useful there, as it tries to ensure that the buffer is shown in the /other/ frame (not the one with Sauron).
** sample configuration
(require 'sauron)
;; note, you add (setq sauron-debug t) to get errors which can debug if ;; there's something wrong; normally, we catch such errors, since e.g an error ;; in one of the hooks may cause ERC to fail (i.e., the message won't come ;; trough).
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c s") 'sauron-toggle-hide-show) (global-set-key (kbd "C-c t") 'sauron-clear)
(setq sauron-max-line-length 120
;; uncomment to show sauron in the current frame ;; sauron-separate-frame nil
;; you probably want to add your own nickname to the these patterns sauron-watch-patterns '("emacs-fu" "emacsfu" "wombat" "capybara" "yak" "gnu" "\bmu\b")
;; you probably want to add you own nick here as well sauron-watch-nicks '("Tom" "Dick" "Harry"))
;; some sound/light effects for certain events (add-hook 'sauron-event-added-functions (lambda (origin prio msg &optional props) (if (string-match "ping" msg) (sauron-fx-sox "/usr/share/sounds/ping.wav")) (cond ((= prio 3) (sauron-fx-sox "/usr/share/sounds/pling.wav")) ((= prio 4) (sauron-fx-sox "/usr/share/sounds/plong.wav")) ((= prio 5) (sauron-fx-sox "/usr/share/sounds/alarm.wav") (sauron-fx-gnome-osd(format "%S: %s" origin msg) 5)))))
;; events to ignore (add-hook 'sauron-event-block-functions (lambda (origin prio msg &optional props) (or (string-match "^*** Users" msg)))) ;; filter out IRC spam