dodl

dodl is a command-line tool for creating structured documents quickly and effortlessly. With a few simple comamnds, dodl generates documents and automatically organises them in appropriate directories, using templates you define.

dodl supports standard plaintext documents such as .txt and .md (markdown).

What Problem Does dodl Solve?

Creating structured documents can be time-consuming. Setting up folders, creating filenames, and ensuring consistent formatting takes effort. dodl automates these repetitive tasks, so you can focus directly on writing and getting work done.

Explore dodl today and simplify your workflow. For questions or suggestions, please open an issue on GitHub.

Get Started

Here's how to get started with dodl in just a few steps:

Installation

Make sure you've got golang installed (preferably 1.23) and then run:

go install github.com/matthewchivers/dodl@latest

Initialise Your Workspace

Navigate to a directory that is to be your dodl workspace and run:

dodl init

This command creates a .dodl directory in your current location. This directory holds all configurations and templates that dodl uses to operate.

Create a document

dodl create [document-type]

Replace [document-type] with any document type you've defined in config.yaml (see configure your workspace).

Override fields at runtime for custom values, example:

dodl create journal -d "20/03/2027" -t "Milestone Birthday Planning"

The document will be saved based on your templates, e.g. workspace/2027/March/20/journal-20-03-27.md.

Templating

Use placeholders like {{ .Now }} or {{ .Topic }} to dynamically generate content in document templates, directory structures, or filenames. dodl templating makes it easy to have consistent file naming, directory structuring, and document formatting. The templating is simple to start with, but can be extended in powerful ways (see examples below).

Examples:

• {{ .Topic }} where the Topic field is "Project X" -> Project X
• {{ .Topic | upper }} where the Topic field is "Project X" -> PROJECT X
• {{ .Now | date "2006/01" }} uses golang date formatting -> 2024/10
• {{ addDays .Now 6 | date "02-01-06 }} (if today is 28-Oct-24) -> 03-11-24

Templating uses golang's text/template alongside http://masterminds.github.io/sprig/ - which provides functions such as upper and date seen above.

Configure Your Workspace

Customise dodl by editing .dodl/config.yaml, and adding templates to .dodl/templates.

Example config.yaml

default_document_type: journal
custom_fields:
  author: "Full Name"
document_types:
  journal:
    template_file: "journal.md"
    file_name_pattern: "journal-{{ .Now | date \"02-01-2006\" }}.md" # e.g. journal-28-10-24.md
    directory_pattern: # e.g. 2024/October
      - "{{ .Now | date \"2006\" }}"
      - "{{ .Now | date \"January\" }}"
    custom_fields:
      author: "First Name"
  meeting:
    template_file: "meeting.md"
    file_name_pattern: "{{ .Topic }}-{{ .Now | date \"02-01-2006\" }}.md"
    directory_pattern: [ "{{ .Now | date \"2006\"}}", "{{ .Now | date \"01\"}}" ]

Template Files

Example template using the custom field author (as in example config above).

#  Journal Entry - {{ .Now | date "02 January 2006" }}

**Author**: {{ .author }}

## Thoughts

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Status

dodl is in active development, with core features like templating, configuration, and document creation already implemented. Natural language date parsing is coming soo. Contributions and feedback are welcome!

Contributing

Open-source is good for the world, and contributions are encouraged. Fork the repository and submit a pull request! For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss your ideas.

License

dodl is released under the MIT license, making it free to use, modify, and share. Requires attribution to Matthew Chivers (the original author of dodl).