A Tool to Write Simple Notes

Problem

I read/listen/watch stuff and want to write down notes.

I have to:

• create a new file or open an old one
• start my editor
• wait for my editor to load
• manage all files, because I have a lot of them

This is annoying.

Solution (Linux)

I need a simple tool to write down notes quickly.

Without the hassle of thinking about a new file, a name for it, the place where to store it, the editor loading times etc.

1. Open my hidden shell configuration file. I use Zsh, so I use ~/.zshrc. If you use Bash, you can use ~/.bashrc.

2. Add alias n='function _note(){echo "$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M: )" "$1" >> notes.txt;}; _note'

3. Type the note in the shell: n "my very important note"

4. See the result

Explanation

alias n: the command I want to use, in this case n. You can use whatever you want as a command, e.g. alias note.

'function _note(){...}; _note': setup a function named _note and run it.

echo "$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M: )" "$1" >> notes.txt;: take the current date in my desired format, add the first input after the alias and append it to the file notes.txt

"$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M: )": the current date in my desired format
"$1": the first input after the alias (e.g. my very important note)
>>: append
notes.txt: where I want to save my note

Further Reading

• Wikipedia: Alias