Markdown File Timeline (MFT)

Many prefer to store their notes as Markdown files in their file system. Some call that a Zettelkasten. The tools they are using are mostly focused on editing the notes and maybe searching through them. More recent tools also provide a network view of linked notes.

But what's lacking so far is a timeline view of notes. Which notes got created (or editied) when? What's the history one's note taking?

Enter: MFT

With MFT all .md files in a directory tree are compiled and presented as a timeline like this:

$ ./mft
146 files found between 23.02.2018 and 25.08.2020

Page 1/13

Week 35--------+
Tue 25.08.2020 |  1. A note (7 lines)
               |  2. Another note (10 lines)
Mon 24.08.2020 |  3. Yet another note (8 lines)
               |  4. One more note (25 lines)
               |  5. Cannot stop writing notes (134 lines)
Week 34--------+
Sun 23.08.2020 |
Sat 22.08.2020 |  6. A wonderful note (2 lines)
Fri 21.08.2020 |  7. Even mote so (28 lines)
               |  8. Final note on this day (6 lines) @ 29.07.2020
Thu 20.08.2020 |
Wed 19.08.2020 |  9. How about this (44 lines)
Tue 18.08.2020 |
Mon 17.08.2020 |
Week 33--------+
Sun 16.08.2020 |  10. Take that (21 lines)
...
Week 31--------+
Wed 29.07.2020 | 11. Final note on this day (6 lines)

::: N(ext, P(rev, <date>, <index>: 

• Notes are presented starting from the most recent one group by day and week.
• The user can
  • page through the notes,
  • jump to a certain date, and
  • open them with the preferred Markdown editor.
• Single days without files are still listed in the timeline, but several days (>7 days) without files will be replaced by ….

Installation

1. Install .NET Core 3.1 if it's not already on your machine. Download it for all platforms from here.
2. Download the latest release ZIP-file of mft from this repository.
3. Unpack the ZIP-file where it's convenient. Maybe put it close to your note files.
4. Run the tool in a terminal/shell window: dotnet exec mft.dll .
   • Prepend a path to mft.dll if it's not in the same directory the terminal/shell is opened in.
   • Replace the . with a path to the root directory of your note files if they are not in the same directory as the terminal/shell is opened in.