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freeplane-python-io

This package provides the user a convenient way to create, read, update and delete information stored inside Freeplan mindmap files. As an alternative or an enhancement to working with mindmaps through the original graphical user interface (GUI) which is provided by the brilliant Freeplane Mindmap Editor, this package was designed to implement an application programming interface (API) for Python as well as a command line interface (CLI) both to interact with Freeplane mindmap files, directly.

features

These are the main features of the package:

  • create, read and modify Freeplane mindmaps
    at least in theory, this package will not touch anything it does not know within an opened mindmap. so, you can read big maps, change them where you like and save them without any information loss.

  • transparent handling of different mindmap file versions
    different freeplane file versions are handled seamlessly. even old Freemind mindmaps should work.

  • management of each node's creation and modification dates
    dates will be translated into human-readable date strings. when creating or modifying nodes, the correct dates will be set.

  • search and find nodes within a mindmap
    based on the node's id, core text, attributes, details, notes, link or icons any node can be found within a mindmap using the mindmap's or node's find_nodes or find_children methods.

  • navigate through the mindmap trees
    based on the node object's parent, children, next and get_child_by_index attributes / methods it is possible to reach every node from every starting point within the mindmap.

  • modify information within arbitrary nodes
    the original attributes of each node (core text / html as plaintext, notes, details, link, icons, ...) can be read and modified. by using the node's set_attribute, get_attribute and attribute methods, the Freeplane' node attributes can be accessed.

  • manage node links
    hyperlinks between nodes within the same mindmap as well as accross different mindmaps are dealt with by using the hyperlink attribute of a node object.

  • set and manage node styles
    in Freeplane, "styles" are used to set and manage the design of nodes. using the styles attribute and the add_style attribute of a map object or the style attribute of a node object, the management is done.

  • create and manage arrow links
    besides hyperlinks, "arrow links" can be used to connect nodes on (this time on a visual level). the node object's add_arrowlink method helps connecting nodes visually.

installation

pip install freeplane-io

usage

import freeplane




#
# load existing mindmap
#

# in order to access a mindmap, you first have to open it using
# the following function. please provide a valid path to your
# already existing Freeplane mindmap within the argument of the
# following function.

# load
mindmap = freeplane.Mindmap('./example_IN.mm')

# show available node styles
mindmap.styles




#
# check for GTD tasks
#

# there is a Freeplane addon "GTD+" which uses exclamation mark
# icons as identifiers for a GTD element within a Freeplane
# mindmap. In order to get a list of all these GTD elements,
# you can use the following method.

tasks = mindmap.find_nodes(icon=freeplane.ICON_EXCLAMATION)




#
# search for any core text
#

# in order to search the whole mindmap for a specific text string
# expected within the core section of a node, the following
# method can be used.

# search whole mindmap for "test"
nodes = mindmap.find_nodes(core="test", exact=True)

# search whole mindmap for "test", "tEST", ...
if not nodes:
    nodes = mindmap.find_nodes(core="test")

# get first node from list
node = nodes[0]

# printout its plain text
print(node.plaintext)




#
# write into existing mindmap
#

# modify test node's core text and color
node.plaintext = 'found and changed'

# create a test style
mindmap.add_style("test", {"bgcolor": "#999999"})

# set test style in node
node.style = "test"




#
# save mindmap
#

mindmap.save('./example_OUT.mm')

the code base

naming conventions for classes, functions, ... and variables

Using Python, developers are always encouraged to respect e.g. naming conventions as defined in PEP8. On the practical side, the freeplane-io package is strongly related to the functionalities implemented within the Freeplane project (JAVA language) and accessible by its built-in Groovy scripting environment. In effect, the freeplane-io package tries to provide a good external API representation for the features, the Groovy-API provides within the Freeplane editor. Thus, another objective is to keep this package as close as possible to the Groovy-API. The syntax and naming will be some kind of mix.

deliberate deviations from conventions

When browsing the code base of freeplane-io, you will see some deviations from the PEP8 recommendations and from Freeplane's Groovy-API syntax. Some deviations result from the fact that the developer was too inexperienced when he started this project, other deviations are intentional as they help extending the machine-based readability of the code in the way the developer likes it. One eye-catching deviation will be the representation of comments within the code. For the freeplane-io package, there are two distinct kinds of comments:

  • block comments -> these comments are used as a kind of heading for the following block of code. It describes in veri few words (one line of text) what is being implemented within the next block of code.

  • concept comments -> these multi-line comments are used to describe the implementation concept. Somtimes, it is not too obvious, how a programmer implements something. So the concept comments might help understanding.

developing freeplane-python-io

The following steps should be performed in order to build a working local development environment. for this, the standard dos / bash / ... console should be used.

  1. clone this project into a new local project folder

    git clone https://...

  2. create a Python virtual environment locally (make sure Python v3.x is being used, here)

    python -m venv env

  3. install all necessary packages using pip

    pip install html2text

...