Keyboard macros or command for quick refiling using dired or similar

Question

I scan all the mail (not email, but good ol' mail) I receive and have these saved as PDF files into a directory, which we think of as an inbox. I would like to find a workflow to quickly refile these PDF files by moving them to one of several pre-defined directories. From a user perspective, the closest thing I can think of is org-capture and capture templates, where I can have a couple of custom defined destinations that have a simple one key shortcuts. I want the same thing but for refiling actual files, using dired or similar, so when I have the list of files I can go just press two quick keys and have it moved to one of my predefined directories.

To further illustrate my wanted workflow, imagine org-capture-templates, which can look like this;

  (setq org-capture-templates
        '(
          ("t" "Todo Work" entry (file+headline "~/org/work.org" "Tasks") "* TODO %?\n  %i\n  %a")
          ("p" "Todo Personal" entry (file+headline "~/org/personal.org" "Tasks") "* TODO %?\n  %i\n  %a")
  ...

So after bringing up the capture menu, I can press t or p to choose either a work related todo or a personal todo. Similarly for my PDF refiling operation, I want to define some "templates" with a shortcut for each, so after selecting a file and bringing up my "quick-refile" menu, I can press a single letter, like 'p' for personal files or perhaps 'w' for work related files, which will then move the file.

I'm open both to configuration suggestions on how to achieve this as well as plugins or suggestions on workflows for doing this. I concocted this workflow for myself but otherwise try to follow BASB (building a second brain) and PARA for filing stuff. If anyone has broader workflow suggestions I'm listening.

Many of these files are closely associated with tasks I have in org, so it's nice to have en Emacs centric workflow to handle all aspects of refiling. Extra points for an answer that can update references to these files from within org, when the actual file is moved. I imagine that I will always refile the file first, then reference it, but perhaps sometimes it is useful to be able to refile later as well, in which case I don't want my org mode references to the file to break.

Answer 1

Have a look at http://pragmaticemacs.com/emacs/quickly-move-a-file-to-the-current-directory/.

It describes a solution to a problem very similar to yours. You have files arriving to a directory, in this case the download directory, and you want to move them to an other. This script moves them to the same directory with the current buffer.

I have added these lines before the last line:

  ;; copy short filename to clipboard
  (kill-new start-file)
  (gui-set-selection 'PRIMARY start-file)

I am usually in an org file and after running the amended function I can paste in the filename and write further annotation on the moved file. If you paste the name in front of a "file:" string, org mode creates a link to the file.

In its current form, the function moves files one by one, so for the initial bulk move you might want to use the standard dired R moves.

The function can easily be extended to do more complex file moves.

Answer 2

There's an interesting article by Piotr Limanowski about the way he reads scientific and computer science papers. I am using this same system for manuals in pdf format, as it is done in org mode and easy to file and have bookmarks and notes. Article in CodeArsonist here

I use pdf-tools.

• Start a new org file, say.. "papers.org"
• Add #+INTERLEAVE_PDF: /the/path/to/some.pdf in the org header section.

with M-x interleave-mode will open the pdf file. you can create a sub tree (a new header) for each paper. in the sub tree create a :INTERLEAVE_PDF: property

the paper is the linked to the org file so you can split vertically, add a note in location using i,

An example excerpt from my papers.org:

* paper6 - Some Paper
:PROPERTIES:
:INTERLEAVE_PDF: ~/notes/ref/lib/some_paper.pdf
:END:

** Notes for page 15
:PROPERTIES:
:interleave_page_note: 15
:END:

*** some sub-tree:
- some text....

*** another subtree:
- some more text

interleave here

pdf-tools here

Answer 3

Here's a command that should do what you're looking for, together with a user option for specifying your associations between files and the directories you want to move them to.

To move a file whose name is not in the list of associations you are prompted for the target directory. A prefix arg means ignore the associations and prompt for the target directory anyway.

(defcustom my-move-file-dirs ()
  "Alist of names of files and directories to move them to.
File name should be relative (no directory component).
Directory name should be absolute."
  :group 'files :type '(alist :key-type file :value-type directory))

(defun my-move-file (file &optional prompt-anyway)
  "Move FILE to associated directory in `my-move-file-dirs'.
If no association, or if you use a prefix arg, prompt for directory."
  (interactive (list (dired-get-filename) current-prefix-arg))
  (unless file (error "No file specified"))
  (let* ((file-sans  (file-name-nondirectory file))
         (dir        (file-name-as-directory
                      (or (and (not prompt-anyway)
                               (cdr (assoc file-sans my-move-file-dirs)))
                          (read-directory-name "Move to: ")))))
    (when (file-equal-p dir (file-name-directory file))
      (error "Cannot move to same directory: " dir))
    (dired-rename-file file dir nil)
    (dired-add-file (expand-file-name file-sans dir))
    (message "Moved `%s' to `%s'" file-sans dir)))

Should work fine. But as always, try it first on files and directories you don't care about, or back up your data before trying it.

---

The question seems like a reasonable convenience request, so I've added this to Dired+.