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Script

Script File

(SH, 20.2 KB)

Current version: 1.1

Function and Features

This script creates and manages a Markdown-formatted timeline file. The user calls the script with the path to the timeline file as its only argument. From there the user can compose new posts, read previously-written posts, and perform other functions.

Features:

• Automatic post numbering
• Date, time and timezone on all posts
• Post length limit support (soft limit)
• Post deletion
• Attachment support
• Avatar support
• Draft saving and loading
• Attachments can be saved and loaded with drafts
• Reply support, including forward replies
• Atomic post read-back
• twtxt cross-posting support

Attachments are stored in a directory called "attachments" in the same location as the timeline file. A directory called ".working" is also created, which is used for internal files as well as storing drafts.

Background

When I used Twitter (before 280 characters became standard), I had a private secondary account that I used as a "rant" account. If I wanted to vent, spam, ramble, or simply write something inappropriate, I would post it there. No-one followed the account, and the account didn't follow anyone. I got used to writing my thoughts as a stream of conscience, necessitated by the fact that each snippet had to be 140 characters or less. I closed that account in early 2017.

The germ of this script formed in mid-2019. I had recently installed the note-taking app Markor on my smartphone and had just finished converting my personal notes to Markdown. Markor has a button in its toolbar that automatically inserts the current date and time into a note. I began to use this feature to write free-form journal entries, but as time passed, I discovered that I missed the specific micro journaling format I had grown accustomed to on Twitter. I decided to write a script to mimic the timeline properties of Twitter, a script I've been developing ever since.

For my own purposes, I consider this script functionally complete.

Requirements, Quirks and Caveats

• bc is required for generating default avatars.
• The invocation of a text editor is set via the "editor_command" variable. This variable is empty by default. It must be defined to a nonempty value before first use.
• After deleting a post, reindexing can be very slow if the timeline has many (1000+) subsequent posts.
• twtxt cross-posting writes to a file "_twtxt.sink" in the same directory as the timeline. Symlink your twtxt file to this file to use it seamlessly.

License

For purely legal purposes, this script is distributed under the terms of the simplified (2-clause) BSD license.

License Text

(TXT, 1.23 KB)

Changelog

Because I had originally written this script for my own use, I didn't keep very many old versions, so this changelog is only partial.

2023-05-22: 1.1

• Check that bc is installed if generating default avatars, skip if missing
• Set dedicated variable for editor command (empty by default)
• Require editor to be defined in script file before first use

2023-04-13: 1.0

• Full POSIX compliance
• Modify copyright to include year of initial creation and current year
• Check if timeline file in argument is actually a directory
• Sanity-check first line of timeline file
• grep for timeline variables instead of hard-coding line numbers
• Generate default avatars only when set in timeline variables
• Add comments to emphasize where to change editor
• Refactoring
• *** NOTE: This update changed header formats slightly and is not compatible with existing headers out of the box. To use this version with existing timelines, run the script once in an empty directory to create a new header, then copy the new header over the existing header. No other changes to the timeline file are required. ***

2022-05-06: 0.7

• Move working directory from "_working" to ".working"
• *** NOTE: Existing drafts will not be accessible unless they are manually moved to the new directory. The original directory can be deleted. ***

2022-04-21: 0.6.5

• Create attachments directory if not found

2022-02-28: 0.6.4.2

• Standardize command substitution format
• Modify copyright to include current year
• Meta: fix formatting on index page

2022-01-25: 0.6.4.1

• Declare counter properly before being used

2022-01-21: 0.6.4

• Add line break after avatar in header
• Option to generate simpler avatar from ID, default to unique avatar

2022-01-21: 0.6.3

• Remove unused redirection in while loop
• Make user IDs generate unique default avatars

2022-01-21: 0.6.2

• Add missing space in second menu
• Standardize "c" as a proactive confirmation option in all cases
• change twtxt option from "c" to "t" to standardize function of "c"

2022-01-19: 0.6.1

• Fix bash not specified in shebang
• Print ID next to username in first menu

2022-01-19: 0.6

• Add user ID (UUID) when creating a new timeline
• Add proper avatar support
• Optionally generate avatar SVG file from user ID
• Offer to cross-post to twtxt at post time
• *** NOTE: This update changed header formats slightly and is not compatible with existing headers out of the box. To use this version with existing timelines, run the script once in an empty directory to create a new header, then copy the new header over the existing header. No other changes to the timeline file are required. ***

2022-01-16: 0.5.3

• Add twtxt cross-posting support
• Meta: version 0.3.9.3 rediscovered; changelog modified to include it

2022-01-05: 0.5.2.1

• Allow uppercase and lowercase for all options, not just main menus

2021-12-06: 0.5.2

• Allow inputting options as uppercase or lowercase

2021-11-19: 0.5.1

• Fix incorrect readback search pattern

2021-11-10: 0.5

• Change grep header search pattern
• More robust index updates when a post is deleted
• Find post to delete based on line number instead of sed pattern
• Anchor forward reply position based on next header
• Bump version number

2021-11-09: 0.4.4

• Add post deletion function
• Read-back: show latest post if any errors are encountered
• Remove _body if post is empty
• Add two newlines between nonempty post body and first attachment
• Fix broken forward replies

2021-11-03: 0.4.3

• Change post header count and config load methods
• Store _body and drafts as POSIX-compliant text files
• Add timezones to all dates
• Add BSD license

2021-10-25: 0.4.2

• Check if _working directory exists on each run and create if needed

2021-10-19: 0.4.1

• Complete rewrite
• Major refactoring: reduce ~800 SLOC to ~200
• Remove state function completely
• Remove quick-post option
• Remove broken post header repair function
• Remove usage and version functions
• Remove .dat directory
• Store attachments and _working directories at top level
• Remove conf file; get config options from timeline directly
• Remove index file; get post count from timeline directly
• Insert newlines between attachments instead of HTML <br> tags
• Change attachment naming scheme

2021-09-21: 0.3.9.6

• Rename "helpme" function to "usage"
• Move .conf file to .dat/conf

2020-12-06: 0.3.9.3

• Standardize printf statement formats
• Touch post body on every run
• Fix attachment count reverting to 0 when loading drafts with attachments

2020-11-26: 0.3.9.1

• Base version for changelog

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[Last updated: 2022-05-17]