Notes go to root instead of target

[EricEWeir]

I've been going back and forth between wiki.vim and obsidian. Obsidian works as it should, but I find it difficult to organize my notes with it. Drawn to wiki.vim because it's vim, but vim's not as intuitive for me as it was with vimwiki several years back.

A few days ago serendipity took me into my old vimwiki directory. Playing around in it, checking out links, I got a sense of how I was able to do in it what I have yet been able to do in Obsidian. I decided to let go of Obsidian, to start working with wiki.vim the way I did with vimwiki. No sooner had I made that decision than I encountered a new problem.

I have these in my .vimrc:

"let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/ZK/'
let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'
"let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wiki/'
"let g:wiki_root = '~/vimwiki/'
"let g:wiki_root = '~/wiki/'

With each of these new notes go to the root folder--/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents or ~/ in my macbook, /com~apple~CloudDocs in my ipad--instead of the target folder.

Is there anything about my specifications of g:wiki_root that could account for that?

[lervag]

I have these in my .vimrc:

"let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents/ZK/'
let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'
"let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wiki/'
"let g:wiki_root = '~/vimwiki/'
"let g:wiki_root = '~/wiki/'

When you use a quoted string, you don't need to escape the space. Thus, I believe you should write

let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'

With each of these new notes go to the root folder--/iCloud~md~obsidian/Documents or ~/ in my macbook, /com~apple~CloudDocs in my ipad--instead of the target folder.

Is there anything about my specifications of g:wiki_root that could account for that?

No, sorry. Except for my above comment, I don't see anything in your setting that looks wrong.

Can you do the following twice, first with the current configuration - before fixing as I indicated above, then after with my proposed change (\ → ). Please report the output of the commands to me.

1. Open a terminal and then open Vim.
2. Run :echo g:wiki_root.
3. Run :WikiIndex.
4. Run :echo b:wiki.

[EricEWeir]

I'm guessing that starting with a terminal and then running the commands in vim, the output would be echoed in terminal. I'm guessing. But they were not. So I took screenshots of what appeared in the command line on executing the commands.

Here are the before the change results:

:echo g:wiki_root

:WikiIndex

:echo b:wiki

And the after the change results:

:echo g:wiki_root

:WikiIndex

:echo b:wiki

With the space in /mobile documents not escaped new notes are still not going into the target. They go into the directory immediately above the target. That doesn't seem consistent with the output of :WikiIndex when the spaced is not escaped.

I've tried to take care and report accurately. I question myself often. There's a lot I don't understand. Not much I can safely trust.

[lervag]

Here are the before the change results: …

And the after the change results: …

Ok, these images show very clearly (to me) that you need to use my suggested version.

With the space in /mobile documents not escaped new notes are still not going into the target.

I assume that you with "the target" mean the directory ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew? So, with the fixed g:wiki_root, the :WikiIndex command is working as expected. So when you say "new notes are still not going into" I think it is very important that you explain what you mean by that.

That is, can you describe step by step what you do to create a new note?

[EricEWeir]

Ok, these images show very clearly (to me) that you need to use my suggested version.

I believed I had the most recent, or nearly most recent, version. I updated my plugins. wiki.vim was upgraded. vim-plug showed 1 file with six changes. After upgrading new notes still go to the directory above the target.

With the space in /mobile documents not escaped new notes are still not going into the target.

I assume that you with "the target" mean the directory ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew? So, with the fixed g:wiki_root, the :WikiIndex command is working as expected. So when you say "new notes are still not going into" I think it is very important that you explain what you mean by that.

That is, can you describe step by step what you do to create a new note?

I start vim with g:wiki_root set as ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/ I enter :e newnote.md to open a note and then do :w to save it.

I then find newnote.md at ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/ instead of where I would expect it given the specification of g:wiki_root, at ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/

[lervag]

Ok, these images show very clearly (to me) that you need to use my suggested version.

I believed I had the most recent, or nearly most recent, version. I updated my plugins. wiki.vim was upgraded. vim-plug showed 1 file with six changes. After upgrading new notes still go to the directory above the target.

I mihgt have been unclear when I said "version". What I meant was that the images showed that

let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'

worked well, and that

let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'

does not work well.

With the space in /mobile documents not escaped new notes are still not going into the target.

I assume that you with "the target" mean the directory ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew? So, with the fixed g:wiki_root, the :WikiIndex command is working as expected. So when you say "new notes are still not going into" I think it is very important that you explain what you mean by that.
That is, can you describe step by step what you do to create a new note?

I start vim with g:wiki_root set as ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/ I enter :e newnote.md to open a note and then do :w to save it.

Thanks. I can already say that the reason it doesn't work is because Vim has a concept of a "current directory" (see :help current-directory). When you do :e file it will open file in the current directory. For some reason, you expect Vim to have the wiki (~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew) as the current directory.

In order to help you here I need to understand why you think Vim should have the wikinew directory as the current directory. For that, it would be very useful if you can explain how you start Vim. The steps before you do :e ....

Something like this:

1. I open a terminal.
2. I start Vim with vim.
3. I do :e newnote.md ...

or

1. I open a terminal.
2. I start Vim with vim.
3. I do :WikiIndex to open the index.
4. I do :e newnote.md ...

or

1. I open a terminal.
2. I do cd ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/.
3. I start Vim with vim.
4. I do :e newnote.md.

or perhaps you start Vim with a button on you your desktop? If so, it may be useful to explain how you do that. Perhaps something like this:

1. I open a file viewer application and navigate to my wiki folder ~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew.
2. I right click on a file index.md and do open with vim.
3. I do :e newnote.md ...

[EricEWeir]

Thanks. I can already say that the reason it doesn't work is because Vim has a concept of a "current directory" (see :help current-directory). When you do :e file it will open file in the current directory. For some reason, you expect Vim to have the wiki (~/Library/Mobile\ Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew) as the current directory.

In order to help you here I need to understand why you think Vim should have the wikinew directory as the current directory. For that, it would be very useful if you can explain how you start Vim. The steps before you do :e ....

My assumption, I thought my experience, was that g:wiki_root set the working directory for wiki.vim.

Something like this:

1. I open a terminal.
2. I start Vim with vim.
3. I do :e newnote.md ...

I have never used vim in terminal. I have looked at it there. And wondered about the advantages of doing so, since it seems to be what most coders do. But I have never used it there.

What I do is:

1. Start MacVim

If I'm going to compose a new note
2. I do :e new note.md.

If I want open a note that I can reach from a link in my index file
2. I do :WikiIndex.

If I want to scan my wiki.vim directory
2. I do <leader>n--I have it mapped to :e ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/ <CR>--to display the file list using Fern.

Again, given g:wiki_root I have been taking the latter as displaying the file list of the working directory.

A question: if g:wiki_root does not set the working directory, why do new notes go to '/Library/Mobile Documents/comapple~CloudDocs/' instead of ~/?

[lervag]

My assumption, I thought my experience, was that g:wiki_root set the working directory for wiki.vim.

Ah, no, that is not correct. This is a very important misunderstanding, and I think it is very good that we have noticed it.

g:wiki_root does not change anything for Vim except that it is used by wiki.vim for a few things, such as :WikiIndex and a lot of the navigation commands like <cr>, :WikiOpen and so on.

Something like this:

1. I open a terminal.
2. I start Vim with vim.
3. I do :e newnote.md ...

I have never used vim in terminal. I have looked at it there. And wondered about the advantages of doing so, since it seems to be what most coders do. But I have never used it there.

That's perfectly fine!

What I do is:

1. Start MacVim

If I'm going to compose a new note 2. I do :e new note.md.

Great. Then the problem here is your expectation, not the behaviour of Vim or wiki.vim. This is a relatively easy thing to "fix". :)

If I want to scan my wiki.vim directory 2. I do <leader>n--I have it mapped to :e ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/ <CR>--to display the file list using Fern.

Ok, I don't know what Fern is, but I think you might want to consider using :WikiPages instead. It is built in to wiki.vim and should allow you to search for pages in your wiki.

A question: if g:wiki_root does not set the working directory, why do new notes go to '/Library/Mobile Documents/comapple~CloudDocs/' instead of ~/?

That's a good question. I believe it is because you are somehow opening MacVim with that directory as the working directory. Exactly why is very hard to know from the outside.

---

Now, I think it is useful for you to read about the working directory concept. Perhaps you could benefit from using an LLM as a tutor? I have found that ChatGPT can often be useful for things like this.

In Vim, you may want to consider using set autochdir. It will set the current working directory to the same directory as the current file. This is probably the easiest way to use Vim. See :help autochdir for more info.

[EricEWeir]

What I do is:

1. Start MacVim

If I'm going to compose a new note 2. I do :e new note.md.

Great. Then the problem here is your expectation, not the behaviour of Vim or wiki.vim. This is a relatively easy thing to "fix". :)

Easier to change my beliefs and attitudes than to get the world to conform to them.

If I want to scan my wiki.vim directory 2. I do <leader>n--I have it mapped to :e ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/ <CR>--to display the file list using Fern.

Ok, I don't know what Fern is, but I think you might want to consider using :WikiPages instead. It is built in to wiki.vim and should allow you to search for pages in your wiki.

I'll check :WikiPages out. Obsidian has a--what? not a command. a function? a plugin?--that enables you to find a file by starting to type. A word. A phrase. As you type, matches are displayed, and you can modify the search term in light of the matches that are displayed until what you're searching for is displayed. Minimal experience with fzf, but I understand it's a bit like fzf. Is :WikiPages like that?

A question: if g:wiki_root does not set the working directory, why do new notes go to '/Library/Mobile Documents/comapple~CloudDocs/' instead of ~/?

That's a good question. I believe it is because you are somehow opening MacVim with that directory as the working directory. Exactly why is very hard to know from the outside.

I wondered if it might have to do with the way macOS handles files in the cloud. I tried creating a new note with g:wiki_root = '~/wiki/ but got the same result. The new note went to ~/.

Now, I think it is useful for you to read about the working directory concept. Perhaps you could benefit from using an LLM as a tutor? I have found that ChatGPT can often be useful for things like this.

I've been experimenting with Claude a bit. Very practical stuff. Somewhat intellectual stuff. It's helpful to have an interlocutor. Readily available. Nonjudgmental. I checked out :help current-directory. Transparent to the trained. Gobbeldygook to those who are not. I'd like to see Claude's rewrite of vim help.

In Vim, you may want to consider using set autochdir. It will set the current working directory to the same directory as the current file. This is probably the easiest way to use Vim. See :help autochdir for more info.

set autochdir is in my .vimrc. So, instead of going directly to a new note, I first opened a note in the file list of g:wiki_root = '~/wiki/', then did :e a new note.md. The new note went where I have wanted it to: to ~/wiki/ instead of ~/.

[lervag]

I'll check :WikiPages out. Obsidian has a--what? not a command. a function? a plugin?--that enables you to find a file by starting to type.

I guess a command, but hard to say - I've never used Obsidian.

Is :WikiPages like that?

Yes; in fact, on MacVim (and Vim), it uses fzf. And so it requires fzf installed and available to work.

I wondered if it might have to do with the way macOS handles files in the cloud. I tried creating a new note with g:wiki_root = '~/wiki/ but got the same result. The new note went to ~/.

Nah, I'm not sure, but I don't really think it has to do wiht how macOs handles files. I don't know what is happening on your end, but I do believe most of your issues are due to lack of know-how. I don't say that to be rude.

Now, I think it is useful for you to read about the working directory concept. Perhaps you could benefit from using an LLM as a tutor? I have found that ChatGPT can often be useful for things like this.

I've been experimenting with Claude a bit. Very practical stuff. Somewhat intellectual stuff. It's helpful to have an interlocutor. Readily available. Nonjudgmental. I checked out :help current-directory. Transparent to the trained. Gobbeldygook to those who are not. I'd like to see Claude's rewrite of vim help.

Yes, Claude seems good. And I can understand that it is hard to understand the docs for the untrained. I hope it may help to use tools like Claude.

In Vim, you may want to consider using set autochdir. It will set the current working directory to the same directory as the current file. This is probably the easiest way to use Vim. See :help autochdir for more info.

set autochdir is in my .vimrc. So, instead of going directly to a new note, I first opened a note in the file list of g:wiki_root = '~/wiki/', then did :e a new note.md. The new note went where I have wanted it to: to ~/wiki/ instead of ~/.

Ok, cool.

So, if you use let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/' as we agreed earlier seems to be correct. What happens if you do this:

1. Start MacVim
2. Do :WikiIndex
3. Do :e newnote.md
4. :echo expand('%:p') (please take a screenshot of this)

Another thing to test:

1. Start MacVim
2. Do :WikiIndex
3. Add a link, e.g. add the text newnote - return to normal mode and press <cr> on top of the word. It should turn the text into a link. If you press <cr> again it should follow the link.
4. :echo expand('%:p') - after following the link in step 3 (please take a screenshot of this)

[EricEWeir]

set autochdir is in my .vimrc. So, instead of going directly to a new note, I first opened a note in the file list of g:wiki_root = '~/wiki/', then did :e a new note.md. The new note went where I have wanted it to: to ~/wiki/ instead of ~/.

Ok, cool.

So, if you use let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/' as we agreed earlier seems to be correct. What happens if you do this:

1. Start MacVim
2. Do :WikiIndex
3. Do :e newnote.md
4. :echo expand('%:p') (please take a screenshot of this)

Another thing to test:

1. Start MacVim
2. Do :WikiIndex
3. Add a link, e.g. add the text newnote - return to normal mode and press <cr> on top of the word. It should turn the text into a link. If you press <cr> again it should follow the link.
4. :echo expand('%:p') - after following the link in step 3 (please take a screenshot of this)

I get the same result in both cases:

I did this with g:wiki_root = '~/wiki/'. Did you want me to do it with g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'?

[lervag]

Yes, I wanted you to use let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'.

[EricEWeir]

Yesterday I didn't understand why newnote.md went into the target instead of the directory above. So I commented out autochdir and the did the tests over again. This time the results were different.

For the first test, this was the result:

For the second test this was the result:

[EricEWeir]

I beat you to the punch. Just finished running the tests with let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'.

Result of the first test:

Result of the second test:

[lervag]

I beat you to the punch. Just finished running the tests with let g:wiki_root = '~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/wikinew/'.

Result of the first test:

Was this with or without :set autochdir?

Also, I believe this issue is resolved? It is about understanding how Vim and current directories and the :e command works. Or am I wrong?

[EricEWeir]

No. I commented out autochdir it might have been why I got the same result on both tests on my first try.

Yes, it’s about understanding vim and current directories. I’m not sure what you mean by “understanding how the :e command works.” That files created will be created in the current directory? That with autochdir set, a new file will be created in the directory of the last file opened or created?

Something I don’t understand is why, given that autochdir had been deactivated and the fact that newnote.md was not saved in the first test, the result was different in the second test.